Harry Potter and the Return of Lord Voldemort
by Hermione Granger1
Summary: *NO LONGER UPDATED* Harry escaped Voldemort again in his 4th year...will he be lucky enough to do it again in his 5th?
1. Strange Dreams

Chapter 1  
Strange Dreams  
  
As Harry stepped off the Hogwarts Express and waved his good-byes to Herimone and the Weasleys the Dursleys rushed up to meet him.  
  
"Oh, Harry. Our favorite nephew and greatest wizard! We want to let you know that this summer's going to be different....."  
  
But suddenly Harry woke up. He had been having a dream about the Dursleys! How could he dream something so stupid? He didn't care about the Dursleys and they'd never care about him. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Hedwig sitting on him until she nipped his finger a little bit. She had a note and a package tied to her leg.   
_  
Dear Harry,  
How's life with the Muggles? I know it's horrible, so how about you stay with us this summer? Like last summer. We could send you some floo powder and you could get here on your own whenever you wanted to. Oh, and here's your birthday present. I know it's a little early but I wanted you to have it now. You'll see why when you get here._   
Ron  
  
Harry couldn't believe his luck. He ripped open the package to find a moving poster of the seven Chudley Cannons (Ron's favorite Quidditch team). Their Seeker was currently diving toward the Golden Snitch. Harry watched in amazement for a few seconds then found some parchment, his quill, and told Ron to expect him soon if it was alright with the Muggles. He also added to send the floo powder soon. If they said no he would sneak out anyway. Harry looked down and noticed something else in the package.  
  
_Harry,  
Since we're back in business (thanks to the money you gave us) we decided to send some samples of the stuff we have right now. It's nothing new but we thought you could put good use to it._  
Fred and George  
  
Harry laughed. He could just imagine what Mrs. Weasley would do to them if she found out they were making joke stuff again. They sent him more of their famous fake wands, ton tongue toffees, and canary cremes.  
Harry knew what all of these were because they had used them all last year. The wands on various people including Ludo Bagman, who was the head of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry and retired Beater for the England Qudditch team, the ton tongue toffees on Dudley, and the canary cremes on Neville Longbottom and some other Gryffindors. The wands turned into little toys when you were about to use it, the ton tongue toffees made your tongue grow huge and purple, and the canary cremes turned you into a canary. You instantly lost all you feathers and turned back into yourself, though.  
  
Harry sent Hedwig off and thought about his very peculiar dream. He didn't ponder it long though because he shortly fell asleep glasses and all.  
  
That wasn't the last dream he had that night, though. He saw a woman with beautiful red hair and dazzling green eyes that he couldn't stop staring at. Then he saw a young man next to her with glasses and untidy black hair. He saw the man but he was still staring into the woman's eyes. Those eyes were so strangely familiar. He knew he had seen them before. The woman spoke to Harry first. Her voice seemed very misty an faraway. It was as though they were in a huge empty room.  
  
"Keep those you trust close to you and treasure that trust," she said and then smiled at him. It was a very motherly smile but it couldn't be. Could it?  
  
"Think before you act. And always remember these two things. In times like these don't trust anyone you haven't known and been close to, and never let anger take you over. Goodbye, Harry," said the man. Harry didn't want him to go strangely. "We will talk again, my........son..........," he drifted out of sight and all went black. Harry jerked himself awake. He felt tears on his face. He wiped them away. What just happened? He thought he remember people. People talking to him. People talking to him about trust and anger. He knew the people but he didn't know them. He was starting to forget everything about it. But then he remembered something. Red hair. He thought of Ron. No, it was a female. He thought of Ginny. No, a young woman. A sort of ghost as she looked. But then the image of her hair faded away. He closed his eyes and saw something growing brighter and brighter. Green. Glowing a magnificent green. For a second he thought he was seeing the flash that had killed his..........parents. Then he remembered everything as though a light had suddenly been turned on. They were eyes. But not just anybody's eyes. They belonged to him. Harry. But he got them from her. His mother Lily Potter. She and his father James, telling him things.....  
  
But suddenly he was snapped out of his trance by Dudley screaming at his mother. Then he remembered something else. The package! He took everything and tucked it safely in his school trunk. He all of a sudden realized he was staving and went downstairs.  
  
"So nice of you to grace us with your presence," said Aunt Petunia very sarcastically and sourly. Then she turned into her normal irritated self. "Do you have any idea what time it is?!" she snapped at him. Harry totally ignored her and reached for some bacon. "Oh no you don't!" she yelled slapping his out stretched hand. "You think your too good to get up with the rest of us, huh?" she said. "Well you can just skip breakfast and start cleaning. Here," she threw a list at Harry and continued. "Do all of these chores, and then you can spend the rest of the day in our room until supper."   
  
Harry dared not gape but he really wanted to. The Dursleys had pretty much ignored Harry since he had returned from school. "You will not eat supper with us, though. You will be called down to eat the leftovers." Harry didn't say anything. He went straight to his room. He was going to tell Ron that if he did come to stay with them he would need to eat with them and if he didn't he'd need some food. But he had no Hedwig. He wasn't going to starve though. He decided to go ask Uncle Vernon about staying with Ron right now.   
  
As he approached he could hear the newscaster talking. "For almost two years now police have been trying to track down the murderer Sirius Black," Harry slowed and listened. "Well, they finally think they're on the right track of finding his hiding place." Harry felt very light-headed, as though he could faint any moment. Just two years ago Harry and Hermione helped Sirius escape from Hogwarts after finding out that he was innocent. Harry had learned that he was his parent's best friend and his godfather. He knew Sirius could hide himself well. No Muggle police officers could catch him. Hopefully. Harry put that thought out of his mind and went into the living room.  
  
"Er, Uncle Vernon?" asked Harry. He often dreaded these terrible conversations.  
  
"What?!" he snapped.  
  
"Well, you see, my friend Ron asked me to stay at his house for the rest of the summer again, and I was wondering if it was okay." At first Harry thought he hadn't heard him. Uncle Vernon seemed to be pondering this question very hard the way he had last year. "You wouldn't have to take me to London or anything and you wouldn't see me again until next summer," Harry added. He knew that Uncle Vernon loved it when Harry wasn't there.   
  
"Well only on one condition. Those people have to come and pick you up in a car wearing regular clothes. And they can't bring all those kids," he finished. Harry thought about adding that they wouldn't be picking him up but then decided he could sneak out while they were eating dinner so he just said, "Done."   
  
Harry ran back upstairs and to his surprise and great relief Hedwig was sitting on his desk. She was holding a letter and a packet which he assumed contained the floo powder. Her rushed over and opened the letter.  
_Harry,  
If the Muggles say you can come then use the floo powder. If they say you can't come then tell us and we'll come and pick you up tonight at 12:00. Please send your answer back immediately. I can't wait we've got a big surprise!_  
Ron  
_P.S. I hope you can use the floo powder alright._  
  
Harry had used floo powder twice and one of those times was just last year when went to the Quidditch World Cup.   
  
He scribbled on the back of the parchment that he'd be there around 5:30 today. He gave the letter to Hedwig along with and owl pellet to show his thanks. He was so happy he was going back to the Burrow again! The Burrow was Harry's favorite house and the Weasleys were his favorite family. He was so excited that he didn't mind doing Aunt Petunia's dumb old chores.   
  
He worked happily but hungrily until 5:00. He got his trunk and everything for school ready. He was starting to get worried about Hedwig. What if she didn't come back before he left? But he didn't have to worry long. She flew into his window about 5:15. The Dursleys were getting ready to eat supper now. He drug his trunk and Hedwig's cage down the stairs to the fireplace.   
  
Last year Mr. Weasley had blown the boards off the fireplace and the Dursleys had never re-boarded it so he wouldn't have to worry about that. He walked past the kitchen and saw the Dursleys eating. "This is going to be so easy!" he thought excitedly. He pressed the button on the electric fireplace and a large fire sat ablaze. He threw the floo powder in. He had to hurry. He thought he heard the Dursleys stop talking and get up. Just as he stepped into the fire with everything Uncle Vernon's shocked face came into view.  
  
"Stop!" he yelled. "I will not have this nonsense in my........"   
  
But Harry had already yelled, "The Burrow!" and he was speeding away from 4 Privet Drive. The next thing he knew he was standing inside his best friend Ron Weasley's kitchen fireplace.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. The Burrow Once Again

Chapter 2  
The Burrow Once Again  
  
Harry looked around. He saw no one there which was very surprising. The Weasleys had seven children but two of them had already moved away. Bill was 22 and he worked for Gringotts in Egypt, Charlie was 20 and he worked with dragons in Romania, Percy was 18 and graduated last year, Fred and George were 17 in their last year at Hogwarts, Ron was 15 in his 5th year and Ginny was 14 in her 4th year. He decided to go upstairs and see if Ron was in his room.   
  
As he approached he heard Ron, Fred, and George talking. "How about a candy that makes you blow up to five times you normal size for abut seven seconds?" asked Fred. They were obviously brainstorming new joke ideas. Fred and George were geniuses when it came to making joke products.   
  
"Great idea!" yelled George.  
  
"But do you think you can do it? Do you know any charms that would do that?" asked Ron.  
  
"Maybe," replied Fred. "We can start working on them tomorrow." Harry decided to surprise them.  
  
"Hey when you get those worked out I'd like to try one on Dudley," said Harry suddenly entering Ron's room. Nobody said anything for a second. They just stared at him amazed.  
  
"Harry," said Ron finally breaking the shocked silence. "When'd you get here? Your early!" he said grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Just now," said Harry smiling at them. Fred and George still looked a little shocked at Harry's sudden arrival. "Where is everyone?" he continued then Fred finally spoke.  
  
"Mum and Dad went to visit Charlie. They Apparated a few hours ago and Percy drug Ginny to work with him when none of us would go." George just nodded his head in agreement.  
  
"Listen, Ron, can I ask you a big favor? The Muggles have been starving me all day. Could I have something to eat?" he asked. Then eyeing the candy and cremes Fred and George had with them added, "Something joke free?" Fred and George smiled at him.  
  
"Sure. I don't know what I can do because I've never really cooked that much before but we can try," Ron said leading Harry downstairs to their small kitchen.  
  
"Mum's the one who does all of the cooking, but I think we can find something in these cooking spell books she has," Ron said.  
  
"Oh, well I don't really need a mean I just need something until we eat dinner," Harry said. He didn't want to have Ron thinking he couldn't stand being a little hungry.   
  
"I think I've still got some chocolate frogs upstairs if you want a couple of those," said Ron looking relieved that he didn't need to cook. "Besides Mum and Dad'll be back in about an hour. And as soon as Mum sees you she's going to make a huge feast," said Ron. Ron's mother had always taking a liking to Harry and always went out of her way to cook stuff for him.  
  
Harry and Ron ran back upstairs to find that Fred and George were now discussing the Gryffindor Qudditch team. Ron threw Harry a pack of chocolate frogs and he ate them happily.  
  
"We need a new Keeper and Captain! Where are we going to find someone good enough to play on the team?" asked George. Suddenly it hit Harry. He had never thought about it before. Oliver Wood the Captain and Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team had graduated two years ago. And this was Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet (the three Chasers), Fred and George's last year! But Harry figured that Professor McGonagall (the head of Gryffindor House) had some sort of plan.   
  
Just as Harry was assuring himself of this he heard voices downstairs. He and Ron looked at each other and decided to go down and meet whoever it was. It turned out to be Percy and Ginny.   
  
Percy looked very happy and said, "Harry! So nice to see you again, my boy."   
  
But Ginny who was looking very bored, tired, and grumpy just said, "Hi, Harry," and walked upstairs to her room.  
  
"Been showing her around the office. I think a day at the office totally wore her out. I don't believe she thought about that when she agreed to go," said Percy and went upstairs to his room.  
  
"I bet Ginny's about to die of boredom actually," said Fred as he and George came downstairs.  
  
"Probably," said Ron nodding his head. "Do you guys want to go outside and play a little Qudditch?" he asked Harry, Fred, George.  
  
"Sure," said Harry. "My Firebolt's in my trunk let me get it." He made his way to his trunk which was still sitting there. In his 3rd year Sirius had sent him the best broomstick known. It was his most prized possession. Harry knew that none of the Weasleys had their own broom so they all took turns riding Harry's. It was great fun. Harry hadn't ridden in so long it felt better than ever.   
He saw George and Fred motioning him to come back down and he dove toward the ground as if diving for the Snitch. He jumped off his broom and stood next to the twins.  
  
"Spectacular dive, Harry," said Fred. "Okay Mum, Dad, and Charlie are back. Come on. Let's go," he said hurrying Harry inside.  
  
Charlie was standing next to Ginny and talking to her about something. "Harry, dear!" said Mrs. Weasley grabbing him into an enormous hug.  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks a lot for letting me stay here again this summer. The Dursleys have been especially nasty lately, and I'm glad to get away," said Harry. The burrow was like a second home to him (Hogwarts was his first. No way did he consider 4 Privet Dr. a home!).  
  
"They were starving him, Mum!" said Fred giving Harry an evil grin. He knew that if Mrs. Weasley thought he was starving then he'd be getting a package of food everyday from her at Hogwarts.  
  
"No, that was just today. And they were going to feed me dinner," he said trying to cover up.  
  
"Oh, well we'll have a big dinner tonight anyway," she continued. "I'll send Bill and owl and see if he can Apparate tonight to join us. And Charlie's already here," she continued partly talking to herself. "Oh! Ron, what about Hermione. Why haven't you heard from her this summer?" Harry realized that he hadn't gotten one owl from Hermione this summer.   
  
"I don't know what happened to her," said Ron. "She just disappeared."  
  
"Well, okay. They rest of us can enjoy a fine meal with Harry," she   
said.  
  
"Wait!" yelled Ginny. This surprised Harry because she had been very quiet ever since he arrived. Everyone looked at Ginny. She blushed then continued. "I know where Hermione is," she said quietly.  
  
"Well?!" said Ron. Harry knew that Ron had gotten a little closer since the incident with Hermione's cat and Ron's rat. She too had stayed with the Weasleys last summer.  
  
"She went to visit that boy from Durmstrang. Viktor Strum or something," Ginny continued.  
  
"Krum," Ron corrected immediately. Viktor Krum was Ron's favorite Quidditch player. He played for Bulgaria, and was a Seeker like Harry. They had gone to see the Quidditch World Cup last year and it was Ireland versus Bulgaria. Krum went to the school Durmstrang and came to Hogwarts last year to compete against Harry in the Triwizard Tournament. He had taking a liking to Hermione and asked her to visit him over the summer.  
  
"I can't believe she went!" said Ron. "Last year it sounded as though she didn't want to go at all," he continued. Mrs. Weasley just shook her head and returned to her cooking smiling. "Come on, Harry. We're going to send her an owl right now. You can bring your stuff up to my room."  
  
Harry picked up his stuff and followed Ron up the narrow stairway. Ron was still muttering things like, "Can't believe she would do that," and "Why didn't she tell me?"  
  
"Ron," said Harry. "Isn't it obvious why she didn't tell us? She doesn't want us to laugh at her." Ron was speechless. He knew Harry was right but didn't say anything.  
  
Fianlly once they were up in his room he said, "I don't care. I still want to talk to her." He found his quill, some parchment, and scribbled some stuff on it.  
"There," he said finally. "Read it."  
  
_Dear Hermione,  
Having fun with Krum? Why didn't you say anything to   
Harry or me but you told my baby sister! It doesn't matter now  
anyway, though. If your coming back soon you can come and stay with us if you like. Harry just got here today. Send back your answer quickly._  
Ron  
  
"Lovely," said Harry sarcastically. "You know she's going to get mad when she sees this! That's the way Hermione is. You know how emotional she is," said Harry.  
  
"I know," answered Ron. "But there was no reason why she didn't tell us. We're her best friends. We deserve to know. Ron tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and sent her off. They headed back downstairs.  
  
Harry looked at the Weasleys clock. Harry loved this old clock. There were no numbers on it at all. Just the name of every Weasley. All of them (except for Bill) pointed to "home" except Mr. Weasley's. It was on "traveling," but very close to home which meant he should be there any minute.  
  
Just then Mr. Weasley came striding in the door holding The Daily Prophet wizard newspaper and muttering to himself.  
  
"Just don't get it. What idiot would do that?" he said. Everyone looked up at him curiously.  
  
"What is it, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley anxiously.  
  
"Sirius Black," he said. Harry's stomach dropped. "Some Muggle police almost found him! He sent a letter straight to the Ministry of Magic saying that he had evidence that could prove he was innocent. He would only come out of hiding though if he could have a fair trial," he continued. Harry felt like he could faint.  
"How could Sirius do something so stupid?! Writing to the Ministry!" Harry thought.   
  
"Ron, let's go upstairs," he said and Ron nodded eagerly. They ran upstairs as fast as they could and slammed Ron's door.  
  
"What is he thinking?!" Ron almost yelled.  
  
"Shhhhhh! They'll hear you!" said Harry. "I know Sirius, and he must have a good reason for doing this! Oh, where's Hermione when you need her?" Harry and Ron said nothing for what seemed like an hour. They were both lost in thought. Harry looked down at his watch. It had only been ten minutes.   
  
"Okay, if Hermione comes then we'll talk about it then. We've got a month and a half until school starts, anyway," said Harry trying to stay calm. Ron just nodded in agreement. They stayed upstairs playing chess until dinner.  
  
Harry and Ron went downstairs when Mrs. Weasley called them. They sat down at the table slight squashed. It was a fabulous dinner. Probably bigger that the one they had last year when Harry stayed with them. He knew it was so big partly because of Fred telling Mrs. Weasley about the Dursleys starving him.   
They talked about everything. Qudditch, Sirius, Qudditch, Hogwarts, Qudditch, Hermione, and Qudditch. When everyone was full and sleepy they went upstairs and went to bed. Harry hadn't been this happy in a long time. He fell asleep and everything was peaceful. Until he started to dream again.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Many Surprises

Chapter 3  
Many Surprises  
  
  
Harry was dreaming about his parents again. But this time it was so horrible it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare. It was a flashback of Voldemort killing his parents again. He had heard and seen some of this before when dementors got to close but this time everything was clear. He caught every word. The picture was so clear it was like it was happening again. His mother begging Voldemort to spare Harry and take her instead. His father trying to fight him down while his mother could run for it only to be killed instantly. And then something very strange happened. He knew this part well. He would turn to Harry curse him but the curse would rebound upon him, and he would flee for his life. But that didn't happen. This was different. Baby Harry was crying and Voldemort cursed him. Instead of getting a scar on his forehead he crumpled to the floor.  
  
Harry woke with a start in Ron's bedroom gasping for breath. He was surprised and frightened to see Ron standing over him with a look of pure horror on his face like he had seen a ghost. "Harry! Harry! What happened? I woke up and saw you rolling around on the mattress and muttering strange things!"  
  
Harry didn't know what to say. Could he tell Ron? Of course he could but should he? "I don't know what happened," Harry lied quickly. Ron just nodded and went back to bed.   
He felt so terrible about lying to Ron that he couldn't sleep the rest of the night. He listened to Mr. Weasley get up and go to work with Percy and heard Mrs. Weasley come into Ron's room to wake him and Ron up. He shut his eyes quickly pretending to be asleep.  
  
"Harry, dear," she whispered softly. She sounded like a mother. Harry remembered his dream. He was going to tell Ron after breakfast what happened. He sat up trying to look sleepy but was having a hard time. Mrs. Weasley went to wake Ron and they went downstairs together.  
  
Harry and Ron didn't say anything that morning at breakfast. Harry couldn't stop thinking about his dream and he noticed that Ron kept stealing looks at him. He and Ron finished and Harry motioned him to follow upstairs.   
  
"We have to talk about last night," Harry said as Ron closed the door behind him. To Harry's surprise Ron looked relieved.  
  
"I've been waiting to hear you say that all morning," he said. Harry understood. He guessed that Ron knew that he had lied to him last night. "You do know what happened right?" he said.  
  
"Yes. It was a bad time to talk last night, and we really need to talk about this. It would be better if Hermione were here too but it can't wait." Ron nodded but at that moment Fred and George came in the room.  
  
"What's up?" said George seeing the looks on Harry and Ron's faces.  
  
"Nothing," said Ron quickly. Harry knew that there was no way that either twin believed that. A look of puzzlement crossed both twins' face.  
  
"Okay," they said in unison. They gave each other that evil grin they were famous for and left.  
  
"They're right outside the door," Ron whispered to Harry.  
  
"I figured they'd do that," Harry replied. Then he winked at Ron. "So you really think that letter from Hogwart's is real? That one about the twins being kicked off the Qudditch team if their behavior didn't improve?" Harry said to Ron loudly. Ron caught on instantly.  
  
"Oh, yeah! It was real. Mum'll be so mad when she finds out. I still can't believe that owl came through my window. I'm going to tell Mum tonight. She'll be furious," Ron said grinning at Harry as Fred and George came bursting in the door.   
  
They saw the looks on Harry and Ron's faces and attacked them. It was fun until Mrs. Weasley came in and shouted at them. Harry and Ron laughed at the twins.   
Harry and Ron played chess, Exploding Snap, and Qudditch all day until it was time for dinner. They were about to go downstairs when Hedwig flew through the window. Ron snatched up the letter as fast as he could which made Hedwig angry.   
  
_Dear Ron and Harry,  
So what if i'm visiting Viktor? I didn't think you'd care, Ron! I'm going to be back in England soon. I've only been here four days. It's nice but kind of boring. He wanted me to stay a month but I told him that I needed to come back and be with my friends!_  
  
Harry thought he heard Ron sigh but he kept on reading.  
  
_I promise I'll be back soon. Ron, are we still on for the surprise? Tell Ginny hi for me and I'll see both of you soon._  
Hermione  
  
Harry was glad that Herimone was coming back soon. Then he could tell her and Ron about his dream at the same time. Then he remembered something in the letter that he didn't understand. "What surprise is she talking about?" he asked Ron. "You mentioned a surprise in your letter, too. What's going on?"  
  
Ron didn't say anything. He just smiled showing that it was a secret and he couldn't tell. They talked about Hermione and Krum until it was time or dinner.   
  
When they went downstairs they saw another chair was added to the table. Harry just assumed that Bill, the oldest Weasley brother, would be joining them.   
Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs to everyone to come down for dinner. Fred came down followed by George and Ginny. After Ginny came another girl. She had bushy brown hair. Harry recognized her immediately.  
  
"Hermione!" said Harry at the same time as Ron.   
  
"Hi guys," she said. Hermione had been Ron and Harry's other best friend since the middle of their 1st year.   
  
"We just got your owl a little while ago. How'd you get here so fast?" said Ron.  
  
"Oh, I sent that right before I left Viktor's mansion. I got here by floo powder. I bought just a little bit right before I left to visit him," she said sitting down next to Ginny who looked much happier now that Hermione was here. Harry was just waiting to hear Ron make fun of Hermione and Krum when he said-  
  
"Mansion? He lives in a mansion?" said Ron his mouth hanging open.  
  
"Well, yeah," said Hermione. Harry knew that as soon as Hermione had the words out of her mouth Ron was just going to start going on and on about Krum.  
  
"Hermione, I don't want to talk about Krum but I have to ask you this one question," said Ron. Harry was shocked. Ron had never really understood why Krum had taking such a liking to Hermione. Hermione looked very relived, too.  
  
"Anything," she said sighing.  
  
"Are you Krum's girlfriend?"  
  
"WHAT?!" Hermione shouted. "Are you crazy, Ron! Of course not! We are friends! To him maybe, but I do not like him like that. I can't believe you would say something like that!" she screamed and ran upstairs. Ginny gave Ron a very dirty look.  
  
"Viktor asked her to be his girlfriend and she said no. He was very upset, and I just got her mind off of feeling sorry when you had to go and screw things up," she said and ran upstairs after Hermione. Ron and Harry just stood there for a while. Mrs. Weasley came in and said-  
  
"Where did the girls go?" Harry and Ron ignored her.   
  
"Oops," replied Ron quietly while Mrs. Weasley busied herself with finishing dinner. Fred and George came in the kitchen.  
  
"What happened? We heard people yelling," said George. Harry and Ron just looked at each other. No on spoke until Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs with Ginny right behind her. Harry hadn't ever noticed that she left.  
  
"Mother, please! She just wants to be alone," said Ginny. She threw Ron a very mean look. "Please let her stay upstairs," she continued begging. "Besides she would have to look at him!" She pointed to Ron. Mrs. Weasley looked very bewildered.  
  
"What's going on here?" she demanded. Nobody spoke. She just shook her head and made everyone sit down. Percy and Mr. Weasley came in from work just as everyone was sitting down at the table, and joined them. Percy was the only one who really wanted to talk.   
  
"Since the absence of Mr. Crouch we really haven't had a good boss. Just got the second one today. He should be out in a week at the least. Very disorganized unlike Mr. Crouch....." Percy said. No one was really listening.   
  
_How could he still be talking about Mr. Crouch after Voldemort and his own son killed him?! _Harry thought angrily. Percy talked all through dinner. Harry and Ron ate their dinner silently until Ron motioned up to follow upstairs. They left the table and went up into Ron's room.  
  
"Hermione didn't have to freak out like that," said Ron.  
  
"Well, I can sort of see why she's mad. Some questions are just better off not being asked," said Harry. "I should know. I've done lots of things to push Snape over the edge." He recalled plenty of times when he had done nothing at all and Snape, the potions teacher, would try and give him a detention.  
  
"Didn't you want to know?!" said Ron starting to get angry. Harry knew he needed to avoid it so he changed the subject.  
  
"Yeah, well I still need to tell you both about my dream," said Harry. Ron nodded in agreement but didn't stand up when Harry moved toward the door to get Hermione.  
  
"She won't talk to me. Maybe she will you," said Ron looking at the floor gloomily. Ron hated to be in fights with any of his friends. Harry nodded and went down the hall to Ginny's room. He knocked on the door.  
  
"If it's you, Ron, then back off!" said Ginny. Harry had never seen this angry before.  
  
"It's Harry," he said and the door opened a crack.  
  
"Does this have to do with Ron? Because he can come and apologize himself," said Ginny through the tiny crack.  
  
"No, I need to talk to Hermione about something," said Harry. He knew he should add something about Ron but really didn't want to. He gave in quickly, though. "I need to talk to her and Ron both and it doesn't have to do with Krum," said Harry praying that that would work. It did. The door opened and Hermione came out. Her eyes looked slightly red and puffy. Harry knew that Hermione was very emotional.  
  
"What is it?" she said trying to act as normal as possible. Harry pointed to Ron's room to show her that they couldn't talk in front of Ginny. Hermione didn't move at first but the slowly she followed behind.  
Harry opened Ron's door and Hermione sat down on the floor next to the door which was as far away from Ron as she could get.  
  
"First, you have to make up," said Harry hoping that Hermione wouldn't jump up and leave. But she didn't. In fact she didn't do anything. Neither did Ron. They both just stared at the floor. "Okay listen," said Harry. "Ron was wrong for asking about Krum," Ron looked up at him horrified, "and Hermione was wrong for getting upset." Harry hoped that they both wouldn't be mad at him now.   
  
"I just wanted to know," said Ron. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or upset you, Hermione," he continued quietly.  
  
"I'm sorry for getting mad at you. It's just that Viktor was really hurt that I said no and I felt bad about it. You just reminded me about it, and I overreacted." Neither one of them looked up. They just kept staring at the floor.  
  
"Okay, then. Can we get on to the important stuff?" said Harry. Harry told Ron and Hermione all about his dream, and Ron told Hermione how Harry was acting when he woke up. Hermione looked horrified.  
  
"That's terrible!" she said. Do you think it could be a sign?"  
  
"I don't know how it could be," said Harry thoughtfully. "This was my past. But it was different that what really happened." They all sat silently for a little while until someone knocked on the door.  
  
"What?" said Ron looking up. Ginny opened the door.   
  
"Everything okay?" she said looking around at them all.  
  
"Fine," said Hermione. "Just fine." Ginny nodded and closed the door. They heard her walk down the hallway and knew it was safe to talk again. Harry looked at his watch. It said 10:37. _How could it be that late?_ Harry thought.  
  
"Let's go to bed. It's late," said Ron yawning.  
  
"Good idea," Hermione replied. "We can talk about this in the morning. Well, goodnight," she said closing the door behind her. Harry and Ron laid down. Harry instantly fell asleep, but he wished he hadn't.  
  
It was the same all week. Harry kept having horrible nightmares. The next dream he had was about the first day of school in his 1st year. He stepped up to the Sorting Hat and was put into Slytherin! The next night Quirrell got the Sorcerer's Stone from Harry and killed him. Then he was killed but the basilik in his 2nd year. Then the Dementor's Kiss was performed on Sirius in his 3rd year and Ron, Harry, and Hermione didn't make it out alive. Then he was in the same graveyard he had been in last year after the Triwizard Tournament. Instead of Harry's and Voldemort's wand connecting, Voldemort killed Harry.  
  
He couldn't take it anymore. He had big bags under his eyes and tried not to fall asleep at night only to have a more horrific and recent dream than the night before. Harry had been killed five times in six dreams. Hermione kept insisting that Harry write to Dumbledore while she read a bunch of books but Harry refused. Who cared about his dreams. They were only dreams!   
  
Harry enjoyed the day after the last dream. In fact he didn't want it to ever end. What could possibly happen in his dream now? He really did not want to see his future. As he sleepily climbed up the stairs that night and got into bed Ron said-  
  
"Tell me about your new dream tomorrow."  
  
"You don't know I'm going to have another dream tonight! I've only had one every night   
this week. This might change it all!" Harry said but then it sounded so stupid when he said it he just said, "Never mind," and fell asleep.  
  
This new dream didn't seem to be bad. There was nothing terrible here but there was something familiar. Just then his mother's and father's shapes came into view. He recognized them immediately because of his last dream.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to go through such pain, Harry," his mother said with a look of concern on her face. "We had to do it."  
  
"What?" Harry said. He was surprised to find that he could hear his own voice. "What did you do? I haven't had any pain," he continued.  
  
"You haven't slept all week, Harry," said his father. "That's considered as pain. At least you can sleep tonight."  
  
"What are you talking about?" he asked curiously. I haven't been sleeping this week because of..............dreams," he said.  
  
"We had to prove..."  
  
"You made me have those dreams?! Why?" he said.  
  
"We had to make to make you see that you have a really good life," his mother said quickly. "It was the only way we could do anything."  
  
"Why would I need to see that I have a great life," Harry said. He was surprised that he wasn't getting upset. Maybe it was because he was talking to his parents that he had never spoken to in the real world. But he wasn't speaking to them now was he? This was crazy!  
  
"The time will come when you will know that," his father told him. "Remember what you stand for, son. Never give in to cruel power."  
  
"I don't get it!" said Harry louder than he meant to. The next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Ron.  
  
"'S time to get up already?" he said groggily without thinking.  
  
"No, Harry, you were talking in your sleep. What dream was it this time? Did you see the past? The future? What happened? What's going to happen to us?!"  
  
"Wha'?" he said. "What're you on about?"  
  
"The dream, Harry!" said Ron looking shocked. "What happened in the dream?" Ron looked at him eagerly.  
  
"Nothing," he said truthfully. "I mean I saw my parents and they said I had all those dreams to prove how good my life was of something," he added quickly seeing the look of doubt on Ron's face.  
  
"You were talking in your sleep," said Ron. "You were asking someone a bunch of questions, and then you were saying something about your life. I couldn't understand all of it because you were mumbling."  
  
"I said all of that out loud?!" he said.  
  
"Yeah, you woke me up talking," said Ron.  
  
"Can we just talk about this in the morning? I'm too tired, and if I start talking again don't wake me up," Harry said. Ron looked a little hurt. "It only means that I'm having a dream," Ron just nodded and went back to bed.   
Harry slept dreamlessly until morning. He got up feeling very refreshed. It was the first time he had actually slept good in almost a week. He thought about the dream he had which he remembered quite good, actually. He still couldn't figure out what his parents were talking about.  
  
When Harry went downstairs, still lost in thought, everyone was acting weirdly. Ginny kept stealing looks at him all through breakfast, and when he caught her she would just blush and smile but look back away again quickly.   
  
Later while Harry and Ron were up in his room Mrs. Weasley came in and asked if he needed anything. When he said no she replied-  
  
"Harry, do you mind if I see your calendar? I don't have any idea what day it is." Then she winked at Ron and turned back to Harry. Harry looked at both of them curiously.  
Ron heaved a huge sigh and said," Mum! Your being way to obvious!"  
  
"Sorry, dear," she replied but didn't stop smiling.   
Later that day when Harry and Ron went downstairs Fred and George were wrapping something up in paper. When they saw Harry they covered it up quickly. That was it!  
  
"Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?!" he said angrily. Harry looked at them and they all....smiled.  
  
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" said George.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Come on. Follow us." He followed the three into the kitchen where everyone including Charlie and Bill. It was decorated and there was a cake on the table......  
  
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" they all yelled. Harry felt so stupid at first. Forgetting his own birthday?! But then seeing everyone he smiled and sat down. They all ate cake and talked happily until it was time for Harry to open his presents.  
He got joke stuff from Fred and George which Mrs. Weasley objected to but since all of   
the stuff was from Zonko's she let him keep it. Charlie gave Harry a necklace witch a dragon tooth on it. He explained that it was supposed to bring good luck. Bill gave him a model of a tomb in Egypt, and Hermione had gotten him a book called The Best of Qudditch. Mrs. Weasley had knitted Harry another sweater. She always made him one at Christmas, too.   
  
Harry was so happy finally having a birthday party. They all ate dinner and then cake until nearly 10:30. Harry and Ron went upstairs feeling very tired. They had talked, laughed, and played games all day.  
  
"Tell me in the morning if you have some weird dream again, okay?" Ron said to him before getting into bed.  
  
"Sure thing." Harry got into bed and drifted off to sleep almost instantly. He was partly hoping to have another dream so that he could, in a way, talk to his parents. But his dream was not of his parents. It was an ugly face. Very familiar, though. Flashing red eyes, with a slits for a nose like a snake....it was Lord Voldemort himself.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Back to Hogwarts

Chapter 4  
Back to Hogwarts  
  
Harry had seen Voldemort again face to face just last year. He wasn't exactly in a rush to see him again. Voldemort smiled at him. It was a very evil smile but full of delight. Was Voldemort going to kill him in his own dream?   
  
"Harry Potter," he said. "Long time no see. We need to talk about something, Harry." Harry thought he was either crazy or had a very thought out plan in mind. But this was a dream! He wasn't really talking to Lord Voldemort himself. "Harry, let's just cut right to the chase. I'm going to give you a choice and you have to make a decision. Would you rather me kill you or come over onto the Dark Side and be on the same side as me?"  
  
Harry was about to shout, "Die any day" but then he thought that might not be a good idea. He didn't say anything. He knew what Voldemort wanted him to say, but he wasn't going to say it.  
  
"Well?" he said smiling again. "Okay. Maybe your not taking this seriously because it's a dream. This may be a dream for you but this is very real to me. I got inside you dream. This is real, and you must make a decision. I can find and kill you wherever you are right now if you want."  
  
"I'm going back to Hogwarts, and you can't do anything right under Dumbledore's nose," Harry said quietly.  
  
"So, that's you decision is it? Very well!" he said furiously.   
  
Harry awoke with a start. Cold sweat was dripping down his face, and his heart was pounding. Did he believe what he just saw? He got up and felt that his legs were very weak and wobbly. He went over to Ron's bed. But should he tell Ron now? He decided not and went back to bed. There would be plenty of time to talk tomorrow. He went back over to his mattress and laid down. He took him a while to go to sleep but finally he did. He was starting to have a dream about his parents. Good. He could talk to them about what happened. But when he saw them they looked worried as though they already knew.  
  
"Harry!" said his father. "Did you have a dream about...."  
  
"Voldemort?" Harry finished for him. "Yeah. But a really strange one. He said that he got inside my dream somehow."  
  
"What did you say to him?" asked his mother.  
  
"Well I just said that I'd be going back to Hogwarts soon..."  
  
"But did you tell him you would go on his side?" interrupted James.  
  
"Of course not!" Harry said. "Why would I do that? I would never join him. He's tried to kill me four times AND he's the reason I have to live with the Dursleys!"  
  
"Good boy, Harry," said his father while his mother sighed. Then he smiled at him.   
  
"That's the reason you had all of those horrible dreams before. Is to show that you don't need him. You've escaped alive all four times. But this year I want you to be extra careful at Hogwarts."  
  
"Okay," said Harry. What his father just said reminded him exactly of someone he knew. "You sound like Sirius," he told his father. "Last year he always told be to be careful and to not go looking for trouble. I never try to get in trouble it always just happens."  
  
"How is old Padfoot?" his father asked abruptly. There was a deep look of sadness in his eyes. Sirius and James had been best friends ever since their first ride on the Hogwart's Express. Remus Lupin Harry's old teacher also had been their friend. But unfortunately the made friends with Peter Pettigrew who ended up betraying Lily and James. He had also blamed Sirius and faked his own death afterward.  
  
"He's okay. I haven't gotten a letter from him in a while, but when I saw him last year in Hogsmeade he was doing fairly well. Surviving at least," he continued.  
  
"Well," said James beaming at Harry, "something very good is going to happen to Sirius this year."  
  
"James!" Lily cut in, "we're not supposed to tell him anything. Just to warn him and give advice." She sounded very much like Hermione. But then she said, "It is very wonderful, though," with a beautiful smile. "We must be going now, Harry. Good bye!" and they disappeared. Harry slept dreamlessly for the rest of the night.   
  
When he awoke the next morning he wasted no time in waking up Ron and getting Hermione to tell them about his dreams. They were horrified about the one about Voldemort, but Harry told them about the one with his parents Ron was quite as excited as Harry to hear about something good happening to Sirius. Maybe his name's get cleared and I can go live with him! Harry thought hopefully. Hermione however was too worried about Voldemort.  
  
"He tried to kill you last year and almost did. He's definitely going to try again. But he said something about he got inside your dream? That it wasn't real for you but it was for him?" she asked Harry.  
  
"Yeah," he answered who had been talking hurriedly with Ron about Sirius, "he said that maybe I wasn't taking it seriously because it was a dream, and said that it was real for him but not for me. That he got inside my dream somehow."  
  
"Hm," she replied. "We'll have to tell Sirius. You know that right?"  
  
"Of course!" said Ron. "He'll be happy to know something good's going to happen to him soon!"  
  
"No! We need to tell him about Harry's You-Know-Who dream. He'll be much more interested in that. Remember how worried he was last year?"  
  
"Okay, but let's go get some breakfast first. I'm starved!" said Harry. They went downstairs for breakfast and a little leftover birthday cake. Then back upstairs (forced by Hermione) to write to Sirius.   
Harry wrote him a short letter and read it out loud to Ron and Hermione.  
  
_Dear Sirius,  
I hope your doing okay. Last night I had a dream about Voldemort. He was talking to me and said that he would either let me join his side or he would kill me. Please don't get to worried but, he said that maybe I wasn't taking it seriously because it was a dream. Then he said that it was real for him, that he got inside my dream somehow. I don't know what this means, and I remembered last year you would want me to tell you about this.   
Then I had a second dream about my parents. It was the third one I've had this summer. They said not to join Voldemort (which of course I said I wouldn't), and my dad said something good was going to happen to you. He didn't say what though. Stay in touch._  
Harry  
  
They all agreed that the letter was fine and that Sirius would be glad to receive it. After that it just seemed like the last month and a half flew by. Hedwig flew in one night with Sirius's answer, and they all scrambled forward to read what he wrote.  
  
_Dear Harry,  
I'm very glad you informed me of this but the news is very shocking as it was last year. You must do the same thing as before. Make sure to not get yourself into trouble, and stay with Ron and Hermione when possible.  
Inform me if anything else strange happens. I also thank you for telling me what James said. You've gotten me very curious considering that I wrote a letter to the Ministry not long ago.  
Take care of yourself,_  
Sirius  
  
Before long Harry and Ron were in his room four days before the term started getting ready to go to Diagon Alley. They went downstairs with Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George to the kitchen. Harry figured they'd be using floo powder to get there again this year. He was right.   
  
He stepped into the fire and yelled, "Diagon Alley," and was whooshing off. He found himself standing on the side of the street next to Fred who had gone before him. They waited until everyone was there and split up. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to Flourish and Blotts first. They went inside, found all their books, and went to pay for them when they saw a women purchasing many books about the subject Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry wondered if she could be their new teacher. But he didn't wonder long because Hermione drug him forward to pay for his books. They met everyone else after getting everything else they needed.  
  
Fred and George had obeyed Harry's wish last year and bought Ron some new dress robes with the money he had given them. They were exactly like Harry's but they were a deep navy blue that would look good with his red hair. They returned to the Leaky Caldron to use their fire.   
  
As they stepped inside Harry heard two old wizards arguing.  
  
"I'm telling he's back and he's already killed some people!" one said with a very panicked look on his face. Harry thought he knew who they were talking about when the other one said-  
  
"How can it be most people thought he was dead."  
  
"I heard about the other day. Harry Potter touched a Portkey at the Triwizard Tournament and almost got himself killed again. You-Know-Who killed another kid there, too." Now Harry knew exactly what and who they were talking about. Voldemort. They were referring to last year when Harry and Cedric Diggory touched the Triwizard Cup which had been turned into a Portkey. A Portkey was an object that would transfer you to one place or another when you touched it. They had been taking to a graveyard and Cedric was killed immediately. Harry recalled everything silently and sadly.  
  
He tried to brush down his hair over his scar and looked away from the men hoping none of the Weasleys or Hermione had heard them. They went to the fire and threw in some floo powder. Harry volunteered to go first trying to get away before he was discovered. He stepped into the warm green flames and said, "The Burrow!" He was very relieved that the wizards had not seen him. He was only too used to people gazing at him their mouths hanging open while their eyes wandered up and rested on his scar.  
  
He only just noticed that he was standing in the kitchen when Ron came out of the fire next to him. "Did you hear what those guys said?" he asked him.  
  
"Yeah, thanks for not saying anything."  
  
"Why would I? I know you hate being all famous and everything. That does annoy you doesn't it?" he asked making sure that he had his facts straight.  
  
"Of course. People always say 'Not the Harry Potter! The one who defeated You-Know-Who?' and then they look up at my scar. It all gets very boring after a while."  
Ron said nothing. He just nodded and went upstairs. They both packed their new books, and other things into their trunks silently.   
  
The next four days flew by as quickly as the others had. Everyone was dragging their trunks downstairs and making sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Mrs. Weasley had told them that the Ministry would be sending cars this year which was good. Last year they had to go in Muggle cabs and when a firework went off Crookshanks went nuts. He scratched everybody. The cars pulled up and they loaded them up.   
  
The trip to King's Cross wasn't bad but wasn't very eventful. Everyone was pretty depressed because summer was over, but Harry wasn't very sad. He loved Hogwarts. Of course there were small details he didn't like (Snape working there was one) but it was always very pleasant. He wanted to see his four poster bed again. He was also looking forward to seeing Dumbledore again. He had helped Harry out a lot over the last year, and he was very thankful.  
  
They arrived and all strode up toward the barrier. Harry was very used to this by now and had no trouble doing it. He and Ron went together followed by Hermione and Ginny followed by Fred and George. They all got on the train, found an empty compartment, and went back outside to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley.  
  
It wasn't long before the whistle blew and Mrs. Weasley was hugging them all. They got back aboard and waved good-bye again out the window as Mrs. Weasley became a little dot.  
  
"What do you guys want to do?" George asked them. "Exploding Snap or Chess?" Ron agreed to play chess (Ron was better than all of them and always beat them fairly easily). Harry watched and thought about his dream until the lunch trolley came. He bought Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, chocolate frogs, and some cauldron cakes. They all ate happily as the sun slowly set along the horizon. Harry watched out the window and was still thinking when the compartment door opened.  
  
He groaned. He knew it would be Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle who blessed them with their presence on every Hogwarts ride Harry could remember. But when he turned around he saw Lavender Brown and her best friend Parvati Patail. They were accompanied by someone Harry didn't know. She was pretty with silvery blonde hair that looked like moonbeams, very fair pale skin, and striking blue eyes. She was already in her new Hogwarts robes. She looked very familiar....   
  
Lavender and Parvati glared at Hermione for a moment. They were both very impressed by the Divination teacher Professor Trelawney whom Hermione thought to be an old fraud. She had walked out of class in their third year and never went back.  
  
"This is Lune Delacour. She's new at Hogwarts. Lune this is Harry Potter, Hermione Granger (Lavender said this through slightly gritted teeth), and Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley."   
  
"'Ello everyone," she said rather shyly.  
  
"Lune has just moved here from France. I think we all hope that you are in Gryffindor, Lune," Lavender continued and Parvati nodded. They said good-bye and left.  
  
"Do we know her?" said Ron staring after them at the door. "She looks so familiar......"  
  
"Oh, Ron!" said Hermione. "Isn't it obvious! I especially thought you would know. She's related to Fleur. From Beaxbatons," she replied impatiently. "But she can't be her sister because Harry pulled her sister out of the lake last year," she murmured mostly to herself.  
  
"Maybe she's a cousin," suggested Harry.  
  
"Could be," said Harry and turned to watch George and Ron finish their last game of Chess. They all talked about the upcoming year at Hogwarts and who would be on the new Qudditch team until they arrived in Hogsmeade station.  
  
They left their trunks and everything on the train and went up to the entrance. Harry, Ron, and Hermione waved hello to Hagrid who was herding 1st years onto the boats. He waved back but didn't say anything because a 1st year had just fallen into the lake and he had to direct his attention to the little boy.  
  
Harry followed everyone else inside and sat down at Gryffindor's House table. He was very looking forward to the sorting of the 1st years and the feast. He had only been to two sortings. One at his own in his 1st year and the one last year. In his 2nd year Dobby the house elf had blocked the barrier to the Hogwarts Express, so they flew his dad's car and got caught. In his 3rd year he and Hermione had been brought into Professor McGonagall's office. She was trying to make Harry go to the hospital wing because he had fainted when a dementor came. She also wanted to give Hermione the Time-Turner that would let her get to all her classes.  
  
Just the Professor McGonagall came trooping in with the new terrified looking first years. One of them was sopping wet. He guess that that was the boy who fell in the lake. He looked over at Dennis and Colin Creevy who were eagerly awaiting for everyone to be sorted. They brought out the hat, it sang its song, and they started calling names.  
  
"Avery, Jennifer!" she yelled and a girl walked forward.   
She hadn't barely put the hat on at all when it shouted "RAVENCLAW!" and she went and sat down. The line moved fairly quickly.   
  
"Brown, Emerald!" was called and made Gryffindor. The girl came and sat down next to Lavender and Parvati and Harry guessed she was Lavender's sister.  
  
"Gremald, Taylor!" was made Slytherin.  
  
"Kalamalski, Meghan!" was Hufflepuff.  
  
"Smith, Timothy!" was made Gryffindor. And soon the sorting was all done but they didn't remove the stool with the hat on it as usual.   
  
Professor McGonagall walked up and said, "We have a new student here today that has just moved with her Aunt and Uncle. Please welcome Lune Delacour, everyone," she continued and Lune stepped up to the hat while everyone applauded politely.  
  
She put on the hat and everyone waited....and waited.....and waited. _I wonder what's taking so long_ Harry thought.  
  
Up on the stool the hat was whispering in Lune's ear and trying to make up its mind.  
  
"You would definitely do good in Ravenclaw," it said. "But you have as much bravery as a true Gryffindor. This is the hardest one I've had in years! Okay then. GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted loudly to everyone and Harry applauded loudly with the other Gryffindors.  
  
As she sat down she said she would tell Hermione, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, and Harry after Dumbledore's speech.  
  
"The beginning of another year. We all hope to do our best and pray that things won't get dark. Now I won't waste any more of your time. Please, dig in!" and with that the plates filled with food. Lune wasted no time in explaining.  
  
"It kept whispering in my eer!" she said very surprised. "It said I would to good in Ravenclaw but I 'ad bravery of a Gryffindor."  
  
"Well, I think we're all glad your in Gryffindor, Lune," said Lavender. And everyone nodded because their mouths were too full to talk. The feast was excellent as usual. When everyone had had their full and the dishes had returned to their usual sparkling clean state Dumbledore rose.  
  
"I would just like to wish you all a happy year before you go off to bed. So now that I've done that off you go!" he said his blue eyes twinkling upon all of them. Harry rose and walked off to Gryffindor tower with Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Emerald, and Lune. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady she said-  
  
"Password?" and a new prefect pushed his way through.   
  
"Squiggle muffins," he said and her frame pushed open.   
  
They all went inside and said good night. Harry was so tired. He didn't know from what though. He didn't even remember putting on his pajamas. All he knew was that he was asleep as soon as he laid down.  
  
  
  
  



	5. The Messgage From No One

_Note from the Author-I really thank everyone who reviewed my story. this is my first fanfic and all of you guyz really inspired me so thank you. pleze if you haven't reviewed do! or just e-mail me at harrys_brainy_bud@hotmail.com or put your e-mail on the reveiw. i will try to keep the chapters coming as fast as i can! just keep checking it every once in a while.  
<3  
Hermione Granger  
P.S. The gray message in the story was supposed to be a different font to make it look creepier but it won't show up on fanfic. sry!_  
  
Chapter 5  
The Message From No One  
  
Harry woke up and found that he had slept much later than he meant to. Ron, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigin were already in the Great Hall eating breakfast. He changed into his robes quickly and went down to the common room where he saw Parvati, Lavender, and Lune all talking. He walked past them and out of the common room.  
  
When he went into the Great Hall he saw he was just in time for the mail. Hundreds of owls came in the window. He looked for Hedwig but no sign of her. As he sat down he saw Hermione pick up the Daily Prophet and look at the headlines. "Harry! Look at this," she said handing him the paper.  


  
Rita Skeeter Gone Missing?  
Rita Skeeter, reporter for the Daily Prohpet has gone  
missing. The last time she was seen was talking to a   
young Hogwarts student in London last year. She  
had supposedly gone on vacation and never came back.  
The Ministry now has a search party out looking for her.  


  
"So?" said Harry. "You should be glad after the terrible stuff she said about you and me last year."  
  
"No, she said she wouldn't write anymore lies. I was just wondering what if this is the same type of thing that happened to Bertha Jorkins last year? We all know You-Know-Who killed her! What if he's getting stronger and killed Rita, too?" she asked worriedly.  
  
"Hermione, calm down," Harry said trying to comfort her. "My scar hasn't hurt in months so he hasn't killed anyone know has he?"  
  
"Oh," said Hermione looking very mad at herself for not thinking of that herself. "I guess your right," she said, put down the newspaper, and finished her bacon.  
  
Just then the course schedules came down the table. "Double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff first," Ron read. "We've never had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff before. They usually keep the same houses together. Not that I mind or anything," he said seeing that Hermione and Harry were looking at him as though he were insane. Anything was better than with the Slytherins.  
  
They finished quickly and headed upstairs. The room was now decorated plainly but neatly. There was no teacher there so they all sat down and waited curiously. After a few minutes a woman came in. She must be the new teacher. She was fairly pretty but she looked extremely exhausted with large circles under her eyes. She forced a smile to the class and said, "Hello everyone my name is Professor Clotchkey. I must confess to you that I don't know much about Defense Against the Dark Arts. I used to be a Junior-Auror and was very good at it but I don't know all of the little details so I've been reading up on it trying to learn enough to teach you. I thought we might so some little reviews on vampires and things, but then we're going to get into what Professor Dumbledor wants me to teach you. How to block curses mainly. He is very sure that Lord Voldemort is coming back this year." Most of the people flinched at his name and gasped when she said that last part.  
  
Hermione raised her hand. Harry really hoped that she wasn't going to say anything about last year. Professor Clotchkey called on her and she said, "You-Know-Who is almost definitely coming back. Harry saw him return to his body last year and just narrowly missed dying." Harry sighed. She said exactly what he didn't want her to.   
  
"Well uh....Miss Granger," she said looking at the seating chart which had been posted, "some people don't really believe that it's possible for him to come back. They just don't want to believe the truth, that's all."  
  
To Harry's surprise she did not gape at him, or look at his scar, or look at him at all for that matter. Harry was extremely relieved. _Finally someone who really doesn't care. She's kind of like Lupin he thought_. After that they brushed up on vampires. Hermione helped Professor Clotchkey through the whole lesson, and she was impressed by how much Hermione knew.  
  
She had assigned them no homework because she figured that they all knew everything pretty well thanks to Hermione. When they left the room they saw a group of fifth year Ravenclaws talking very fast. "Did you see what it said?" one said looking absolutely terrified.  
  
"Beware, Harry Potter!," one replied her voice quivering slightly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were catching every word.  
  
"What?!" Ron burst out before Harry could stop him. "What are you talking about?" he said looking at each of them. They were not looking back at Ron however. Their eyes were fixed upon a very confused Harry.  
  
"Er....uh.....right outside Gryffindor's common room," a boy replied. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble getting his word out. "But, you didn't hear it from us," he continued and they rushed off without another word. They all looked at each other. They had to get going to class fast because they had Potions next and it would be like giving Snape a holiday to show up late on the first day. They rushed down to the dungeon where potions were held and rushed in the door. They were just in time.  
  
"Three points from Gryffindor," said Snape coolly. "You can thank Granger, Potter, and Weasley."  
  
"But we're not even...." Harry started to say but Hermione elbowed him.   
  
"Do you want more points taken?" she whispered as they took their seats. They used the rest of the class to make a very heavy sleeping potion which was pretty advanced. Hermione had no trouble at all as usual but cauldrons were melting everywhere and people were falling asleep every two minutes.   
  
"That's quite enough!" Snape said after the fourth person had fallen asleep. "You may go."  
  
Everyone was very thankful for this. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed to Gryffindor common room. The fat lady was on the very edge of her frame looking very frightened and jumped when she saw them coming. Everything was a mess and there was a message written on the wall.   
  
"What happened?" Hermione asked her.  
  
"Well," she said shakily, "a man came and I asked him what he was doing. I couldn't see his face because his head was covered by a long black cloak. He told me to keep quiet unless I wanted to....die! And then he wrote that message in some silvery paint it looked like."  
  
"You-Know-Who?" said Ron.  
  
"No way. There's absolutely no way he could come into Hogwarts without being noticed. My guess is Wormtail," said Hermione.  
  
"I agree," said Harry. They moved over to read what it said on the wall.  


  
Harry Potter Beware! The Dark Lord has returned  
And he will get you. You've made the wrong  
Decision!!  


  
Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione who looked very pale and worried. "I think we should go to Dumbledore," Hermione said. Harry agreed with her and they set off. When they reached the stone gargoyle they just stood in front of it.  
  
"Anyone know the password?" asked Ron.  
  
"Nope," said Harry. "Last year it was 'cockroach cluster' but I have no idea what it is this year. It's usually some sort of candy." They looked at each other and all of them started saying every candy they could think of. Finally the gargoyle stood up and jumped aside. They gave each other quizzical looks, shrugged, and entered.  
  
When they knocked on the door Professor Dumbledore said "Enter," and they went inside. When they went inside Dumbledore smiled and said, "You never fail to figure out the password do you?" he said his blue twinkling. But then it vanished. "I know why you're here. I don't know what happened. I don't understand the message either. Did you make some sort of decision, Harry?" he asked him.  
  
"Well.." he began, "sort of. I had a dream while I was at Ron's house. Voldemort was saying I could either join his side or he could kill me. I didn't really answer him directly at first and then he told me he got inside my dream somehow. I told him I was going back to Hogwarts soon and he couldn't do anything in front of you and then that was it," Harry said quietly.  
  
"I see," Dumbledore said. "There is a way to get into people's dreams by using dark magic but I don't know what it is. Harry, you know your going to have to be more careful than last year, right?"  
  
"Yes, but it's hard. There was no way I could've prevented being sent to that graveyard last year," he said a little angrily. People always made it seem like it was his fault all this stuff happened.  
  
"I know but you must stop doing those little things your so used to. Sneaking around the castle at night, and visiting Hagrid when your not supposed to. All these little things could put you in great danger this year," he said. "Well, you three need to get off to class," he said and showed them to the door.  
  
They walked silently to Care of Magical Creatures. _How am I going to stay out of trouble?_ Harry thought. _Trouble always seems to find me!_ When they reached Hagrid's hut they explained quickly why they were late and he understood completely.  
  
"I guess yeh saw wha' happened then," Hagrid said to them while everyone was running around trying to grab hold of their Milichias. These were little hairless animals that kept disappearing and reappearing all over the place.  
  
"Yeah," said Hermione. "I guess this is going to be another year like last one. But if you think about it it's all pretty frightening. I mean to think that You-Know-Who will be coming back and plotting to kill Harry again."  
  
Harry said nothing. He was lost in thought. He was thinking about how Voldemort had killed his parents, and how he had thought that Sirius had betrayed them. They helped Hagrid silently until he said, "All righ' Harry?"  
  
"Yeah, fine," Harry lied. Harry was anything but fine.


	6. The Missing People

Chapter 6  
The Missing People  
  
Harry was relieved when the weekend finally came and he had time to talk to Hermione and Ron. It had been a very hard week. They were getting much more homework than usual. Hermione pointed out because they were 5th year and they would be taking O.W.L.s.   
  
It was nighttime and mostly everyone was just sitting around relaxing because they had been doing homework most of the day. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting near the fire playing a very lax game of chess. It was the seventh time Ron had beaten Harry but he really didn't care at all. He was too busy thinking. Harry found that he would just lose concentration completely sometimes and just think about everything for hours.  
  
"Harry, your turn," said Ron.  
  
"Oh, sorry," he said telling one of the pieces to move without thinking.  
  
"Checkmate," said Ron. "Harry, are you okay? You're not even trying to beat me anymore."  
  
"I guess I've just been doing a lot of thinking. I'm not really paying attention anymore."  
  
"Harry, is this about the message?" Hermione asked. She had been sitting in an armchair, of course, reading a book.  
  
"Well, not just that. I mean yeah, it's part of it but..." he trailed off. He didn't really know if he wanted to share his personal feelings with them.  
  
"What?" Hermione said. "We're your friends, Harry. We're here to listen."  
  
"I've just been reliving last year a lot. I keep thinking about what happened. And in my past when my parents died, and my dreams. There's just so much going on right now. I feel like I need a pensieve."  
  
They all knew what a penseive was. Harry had seen Dumbledore's last year. It's all of your thoughts put into a large container to free your mind. When you've got too much to think about.  
  
"Harry! That's a great idea!" Ron said. "You could put everything into a pensieve like Dumbledore." Hermione gave him a don't-be-so-stupid look.  
"He can't do that. It's very advanced magic."  
  
They were all silent after that. Ron beat Harry five more times in chess and they all went to bed. Neither Harry nor Ron said anything when they got upstairs. They just changed, got into bed, and went to sleep.  
  
"So, Harry Potter," said a high-pitched evil sounding voice, "you are not worried by my message? You will pay. I have many servants and all will do their best to deliver you to me. The one who does will be praised beyond all others. Watch you step, Harry Potter," said the voice and his dream was filled with more high-pitched laughter.  
  
Harry awoke the next morning. He remembered the dream. He wondered why he didn't wake up. He looked at his watch and saw that it said 6:15. He decided that he might as well stay up and dressed. He didn't wait for Ron to wake up because that might take hours. He just went downstairs and went out of the common room.  
  
As he walked to the Great Hall to have some breakfast he saw that he wasn't the only one up that early. Pansy Parkinson and some of her Slytherin friends were all talking. He expected them to throw some nasty comment at him but they hadn't even noticed that he was there.  
  
As he neared he could see that Pansy was sobbing. "I got an owl from him just this morning saying 'I won't be at Hogwarts this year. I must fulfill my duties. Love Draco,'" she cried. Harry was shocked. He knew that they had not come into his compartment of the train but he hadn't even noticed that he wasn't there at Care of Magical Creatures.   
But of course that was when he had just gotten back from Dumbledore's office and had his mind on other things. He wondered what sort of duties he had to fulfill.....  
  
But as he wandered into the Great Hall he saw Hermione was already eating breakfast and reading her newspaper.  
  
"Well, your up early," she said as he sat down.  
  
"Do you know where Malfoy is?" he asked.  
  
"I was just going to tell you that they have an article about it in the Daily Prophet. They say that many Hogwarts students, particularly from Slytherin, are not going to be attending school this year. It's very secret information," she said showing him the paper.  
  
"I heard Pansy Parkinson outside crying over Malfoy."  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle are gone, too. Harry, I'm worried this has to do with..." she said not being able to finish her sentence.  
"  
I agree," Harry said. "Well, we can talk about this later when Ron wakes up."  
  
"Okay." They finished eating breakfast in silence and were about to go back to the common room when Ron came running in the Great Hall.  
  
"Another..........message. Gotta.....read it....before......lessons," Ron panted.  
  
"Did you run all the way down here?" Hermione asked pulling out a chair for him to sit down. He nodded. Harry didn't care about how far he ran he just wanted to know what happened.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked Ron eagerly.  
  
"Another message. Near the Defense Against the Dark Arts room this time," he said.  
  
"You eat. We'll go check it out," Hermione said stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth.  
  
"No way!" he said spitting it out. "If your going I'm going with you."  
  
"Okay, let's just go," Harry said impatiently.  
  
"Fine," said Ron and they all left the Great Hall.   
As they walked past some of the Slytherins yelled things like, "Beware, Potter!" and   
"You better watch your back, Potter." Harry had learned the hard way how to ignore these types of things. Last year Rita Skeeter had written a lot of untrue things about him and all of the Slytherins made fun of him nonstop.  
  
As they reached they Defense Against the Dark Arts room they could see the message. A crowd of students were gathered around it whispering.  
  


You will not get away this time potter!  
beware! My master is stronger everyday and   
his followers have returned. You will not live to   
see the end of this year!  


  
"Harry, I just noticed something," Hermione said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"This is written in unicorn's blood!" she said.  
  
"So?" he and Ron said at the same time. Hermione wasn't even paying attention. She was talking to herself like she does when she has an idea.  
  
"If I'm right...." she said. "I'll be back in time for classes I've got to go to the.."  
  
"Library," Harry and Ron finished together for her. She nodded eagerly and ran off.  
  
"If I had a Galleon for every time she disappeared to the....." Ron started but Harry cut him off.  
  
"Let's get to class. We've got Divination and it'll take a while to get there," Harry said.   
  
They climbed to the North Tower and entered the dark smoky room where Lavender, Parvati, and their friend Lune were sitting. Lavender was whispering to Lune while Parvati just sat looking very eager for the lesson to begin. As the class began to show up it started to get even more hot in the smoky room.  
  
"Hello once again," said the familiar misty voice as Professor Trelawney entered out of the shadows. "Today we're going to start dreams. There is always a logical explanation behind the dreams we have," she said.  
  
"What would it mean if you turned into a monkey and ruled the world in your dream?" Ron whispered to Harry who almost burst out laughing. He tried to turn his giggles into a cough but was having a hard time.  
  
".....turn to page 115 in your books," she said not noticing Harry. "Study the different signs please until you think your ready to try out someone's dream. I would like to start by analyzing some of your dreams. How about you first dear," she said to Harry. Somehow he just knew this was coming. Professor Trelawney had been predicting Harry's death for two years now. "Tell me of your dreams."  
  
"Well, er," said Harry. He didn't want to tell her one of his real dreams so he just made one up. "I had a dream once that I was flying on my broomstick once and I crashed into a dragon," Harry said and a lot of the class cracked up. Lavender and Parvati however glared at Harry. When he looked up at Professor Trelawney she had a look of pure horror on her face. Oh great here it comes Harry thought.  
  
"This means that you will die a slow and agonizing death before then end of the Quidditch season!" she said very dramatically while Dean and Seamus sniggered behind her back. "I see that you all think this is funny," she said going back to the front of the room. "Well then, let's have everyone read the whole section on dreams and predict one of your own. Oh, except for you Miss Brown, Miss Patail, and..I don't believe I know your name," she said to Lune.  
  
"I am Lune Delacour. I 'ave just moved 'ere from France with my cousin Fleur," she said rather shyly.  
  
"Oh, how wonderful to have you with us Miss Delacour!" Professor Trelawney said and then walked back to the front of the room. "Class dismissed."  
Ron and Harry left as soon as they could.  
  
"Why didn't you tell her about your real dreams?" Ron asked him.  
  
"What? Are you crazy?" Harry said to Ron. "Why would I tell her and the whole class about my dreams of my dead parents?"  
  
"Yeah your right I can see why you didn't," Ron said and they were silent the rest of the way to Potions. When they got there they weren't late but Snape was already talking to the class. They try to enter as quietly as they could but Snape saw them.  
  
"Ten points from Gryffindor," he said and they sat down.  
  
"What took so long?" Hermione whispered as they sat down.  
  
"Professor Trelawney," the said together. "She's predicting Harry's going to die because of his dreams now," said Ron.  
  
"Harry, you didn't tell that old quack about your dreams did you?!" Hermione asked an exasperated look on her face.  
  
"Of course not!" said Harry. "We were doing dreams and she asked me about one of mine. I made one up, and said I ran into a dragon during a Quidditch game. She said I would die before the Quidditch season was over."  
  
Hermione tried to stifle her laugh but wasn't very successful. "Miss Granger," said Snape, "is there something that you would like to share?" Hermione stopped laughing at once and shook her head. "Then I suggest you remain silent."  
  
The rest of potions was horrible. Snape bullied Neville worse than ever, Ron and Harry got more points taken for messing up their potions, and Hermione got more points taken for trying to help Neville and being a 'good for nothing showoff' as Snape called her.  
  
When they went to the common room after dinner Hedwig came in the window with a letter for Harry. He hurriedly opened it thinking that the something good had finally happened to Sirius but he was very very wrong.  
  
_Dear Harry,  
Things are looking very bad, Harry. I'm at the Ministry doing  
everything I can to keep myself out of Azkaban. I keep telling them I can show them that Pettigrew's alive but Fudge won't have anything to do with it. Some of the people want to give me a chance like Ron's dad but most of them think the dementors should just finish me off. I know where Pettigrew is hiding and it's very close to Hogwarts. Voldemort is not with him. He's not the one writing the messages, though. I don't know who is. I just need your help to capture Pettigrew. I'll give you the information later._  
Sirius  
  
Hermione finished the letter slightly after Harry and gasped. Harry's mind was racing. How could he possibly help Sirius? Ron looked very white but said nothing. They decided to talk to Dumbledore right away in the morning.  
Ron and Harry said goodnight to Hermione and climbed the boy's staircase to the dormitory.  
  
"D'you think Sirius will be okay?" said Ron nervously. He cared as much about Sirius probably almost as much as Harry did.  
  
"He's pretty careful. He just better not do anything stupid like try to run off," Harry said. Ron nodded and he climbed into bed. As he drifted off to sleep voices filled his head.  
  
"You cannot capture me, Harry Potter."  
  
"Never give in, Harry."  
  
"My servant will always be faithful."  
  
"Get me out of here!!" Harry was very afraid but he didn't wake up, and a good thing he didn't either.  
  
A/N: _sry this took so long! i had a little bit of writer's block. i'm doin really good w/ my new story that's comin out soon though. look for it! it'll be called (i think) James Potter and the Best Friends Ever Year 1. It should be a 7 year series if i can keep up with it. please reveiw or e-mail. harrys_brainy_bud@hotmail.com. thank u to the people who have been so nice to me and supportive. i personally would like to thank Nemesis. u've been a real boost on my inspiration and eliza. thanx guyz.  
~*hermione*~  
  
  
  
_


	7. The Fatal Quidditch Match

A/N:_I just wanted to let everyone know that in chapter 2 i made a mistake. it was a very big one and it has to do with this chapter. katie, angelina, and alicia are in the same year as fred and george. i thought that they had graduated so i apologize. i did fix it but you needed to know that for this chapter.  
<3  
~*hermione*~_  
  
  
Chapter 7  
The Fatal Quidditch Match  
  
The next day after morning classes Professor McGonagall called the Quidditch team to her office. "This year, since Oliver Wood has left us, we will be appointing a new Captain. It was a very hard decision and I hope that no one gets their feelings hurt but the new Captain is...." _It's not going to be me. I don't have enough experience. I hope it's Fred or George. Or Angelina, Katie, or Alicia_. Harry thought. "Katie Bell," Professor McGonagall said. Katie let out a gasp of surprise. Everyone cheered for her. "I'm counting on you to lead us to another victory, Miss Bell," she continued. "But we have more good news," she said and everyone stopped talking. "We will of course need a good Keeper. This person was recommended and I was watching him during the summer. I'm not sure if he can quite fill Wood's shoes but he is very good. His name is Robert Dickstein and he's a 6th year." Harry had never heard of him before. It seemed that the others didn't know him either because they all looked at each other. "After dinner tonight we will come back here and I will introduce you to him. Then you may go back to your common room and celebrate this good news," she said and smiled at them. "Now I suggest you go eat a quick lunch and get to classes." She smiled again and they left.  
  
Harry walked to the Great Hall with Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. The three girls were talking about how great it was that Katie became the Captain. Fred, George, and Harry were all silent until George said, "You guys ever heard of him?"  
  
"Nope," Harry said. He had a feeling that both of the twins were worried about how good he was. "But we'll be starting to train as soon as Katie gives the word so I guess we'll see how good he is then."  
  
"Yeah, I guess," said Fred. When they went into the Great Hall Harry sat down next to Ron and Fred and George next to him.  
  
"So, what's up?" asked Ron.  
  
"Well, we've got a new Captain and Seeker. Ever heard of Robert Dickstein? He's a 6th year," said Harry.  
  
"Nope," said Ron his mouth full of chicken.  
  
"I have," said Hermione quietly.  
  
"How do you know him?" asked Fred leaning over the table to get a better look at Hermione.  
  
"Well, last year when Malfoy put that curse on my teeth I went to the hospital wing, and I met him in there."  
  
"Oh," said Fred sounding slightly disappointed.  
  
"He's really very nice," said Hermione.  
  
"Do you know if he's any good at Quidditch?" asked Fred.  
  
"Well, no."  
  
"Okay, then," said Fred. "We gotta go back and get our stuff. We'll talk to you tonight, Harry. Oh, and if you've got a minute would you mind asking Katie if we can start training really soon?" asked George.  
  
"Sure," laughed Harry. He didn't see why they were so worried. Professor McGonagall surely got someone good. She wanted Gryffindor to win as much as the team themselves did.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione left a little while after Fred and George. They had Transfiguration next. All during the lesson Harry just couldn't keep his mind focused. He kept thinking about Quidditch.  
  
"Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall. Harry jumped. "I suggest you start working on the assignment, and don't worry about the new Quidditch player," said Professor McGonagall so that only the three of them could hear.   
  
After Transfiguration they had Care of Magical Creatures which was another lesson on the Milichias. Harry was daydreaming again which was bad because his Milichia kept disappearing and he'd have no idea where it went.  
  
Finally after dinner the team rose and went to McGonagall's office together talking excitedly. "Do you think he's good?" Angelina asked.  
  
"He'd better be," said Fred. Fred and George looked very anxious. Harry however was pretty confident that this Robert Dickstein would be good. They entered McGonagall's office. She was talking to a boy that Harry could only assume was Robert. He was tall with dark hair, and hazel eyes. He smiled as they entered.  
  
"Team, this is Robert Dickstein your new Keeper. Rob this is Harry Potter the Seeker, Fred and George Weasley the Beaters, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet the Chasers. Katie was just appointed new Captain this afternoon. He nodded toward them.  
  
"So how long have you been playing?" George blurted out. Professor McGonagall glared at him but Rob smiled.   
  
"I've been playing since I was old enough to get on a broomstick. I've been in second place for the position of Keeper ever since my second year right behind Oliver Wood, and finally it's my turn to play." They all just nodded.  
  
"Well, I think it's time for all of you to get back to the common room and start the celebration," Professor McGonagall said and shooed them out of her office. They walked back to the portrait of the fat lady in silence. But when they said they password and climbed through the wall it sounded like a bomb had gone off. Everyone was coming up and congratulating Katie and Rob.   
  
Everyone talked about Quidditch and how they were going to kill Slytherin next year until midnight. Finally Professor McGonagall came in and told them to go to bed. Harry climbed happily into bed and dreamed nothing that night.   
  
They next day Katie announced to the team that Quidditch training would start that day after dinner. Their first match was in two weeks.  
  
Harry felt so good to be playing Quidditch again. He missed it very much last year, and it the sensation of flying felt even better than it did at the Weasley's because he was at Hogwarts, with his team, on his field. Katie trained them exactly the way Wood did until the very last day. At the end of practice the day before the big match against Hufflepuff she called down the team and made a little speech.  
  
"Now I know tomorrow's game is going to be hard on us, especially Harry, because it's against Hufflepuff but we just have to remember what we've been working on all week and we've got this in the bag. Now I want everyone to get a good night's sleep," she said and they all left.  
  
As Harry walked up into the dormitory, dressed, and got into bed his nerves finally hit him. He was always nervous before a Quidditch match but it was worse because it made him remember Cedric and that awful night last year. But in no time Harry was asleep.  
  
The next morning he woke up early and dressed. He picked up his Firebolt and took it downstairs with him to breakfast. He hardly ate anything. Katie was trying to make them eat like Wood used to but he, and everyone else, had no appetite. Katie told them it was time to go to the field and they all got up. The Gryffindor table cheered but Harry could hear all of the Slytherins hissing and booing. He didn't care.  
  
They dressed silently in the locker room and then waited for Katie to make her speech.  
"Now I know most of us have Oliver's speech memorized by heart because we've heard it so many times. Well, I don't want to mount up everyone's nerves like he always did, so I'm just going to say good luck, and do your best." They all gave one last cheer and headed out onto the field. The crowd roared for them. The Ravenclaws were clapping politely for both teams while Slytherin was all for Hufflepuff. It was a known fact that the Slytherins that Hufflepuffs were stupid gits but they would cheer for them over Gryffindor any day.   
  
Harry heard Madam Hooch say, "On my whistle. Three....two...one...." Harry kicked off the ground and rose faster than anyone else on the team. He was already looking around for the Snitch. Lee Jordan, of course, was commentating.  
"Bell has the Quaffle, to Spinnet, back to Bell, to Johnson, and SHE SCORES!!!! GRYFFINDOR HAS SCORED THE FIRST POINT!" The Gryffindor side of the stadium cheered so wildly that Harry felt like he was going deaf. The match went fairly quickly. They scored another tree goals while Hufflepuff scored two. Then Harry saw a little sparkly above his head. He started up towards it but something strange happened. The sky got very dark with clouds and people started screaming. Harry looked down and saw that the outskirts of the field were in huge flames. He was about to go down to the ground when a voice whispered in his ear.  
  
"Die, Harry Potter!" it laughed and Harry felt himself being pushed off his broom. No one was around him but still something was pushing him off. They kept pushing with an almighty power until Harry was clinging to his broom for dear life underneath it. He felt his fingers being pried off of the broom. He tried to hold on but it was too late. He was falling, falling, falling, and then something grabbed his wrist and he felt a jerk. George had tried to hold on to him but at the speed he was going he pulled George off of his broom. Now George was holding on the very end of his broom with one hand. Harry could see the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff team circling under him.  
  
He felt George loosing his grip on his wrist. _Hold on! Please hold on to me!_ Harry thought frantically. But it was too late. George's hand had slipped off his wrist and her was falling once more. Someone would catch him below though. But the invisible someone pushed him to the side so that no one would get there in time. He hit the ground with a light _thud_ and opened his eyes. He heard someone screaming of anger and pain. But then he blacked out.  
  
A/N:_ i know it wasn't very long but please just review it! i would appreciate it very much!  
~*hermione*~_  
  



	8. Sirius's Letter

Chapter 8  
Sirius's Letter  
  
That night while Harry Potter was still in the hospital wing Draco Malfoy snuck into the Gryffindor common room. Somehow he knew the password and the fat lady had not questioned him. It had been a month and Draco was still feeling very strange. It was a good feeling like he had no troubles but he was always light headed and feeling very airy. He wasn't aware of his actions, either. He crept up into the boy's dormitory and looked inside each of the hangings.  
  
Longbottom, Finnegan, Thomas, Weasley, this had to be it. He opened the hangings to the last bed and without knowing it let out a yell of anger. He clapped his had over his mouth to stifle the sound. What was he thinking? He was going to wake someone up. Unfortunately he did.  
  
"Was' goin' on?" someone said as though still half asleep. Ron Weasley pulled the hangings around his bed back and stared straight at him horrified. Malfoy groaned. Now he'd have to modify his memory. His master would not be very happy.  
  
He decided against it and said, "Stupefy," instead. That would hold him for a little while. When he woke back up, hopefully, he wouldn't remember anything. He ran from the room, out of the castle, and into the Forbidden Forest.  
  


* * *  


  
Harry woke up to find himself in a dark and strange place. But then he realized that he had been here many times before when it was dark outside. He was laying on a bed in the hospital wing with moonlight streaming in. What was he doing there though? He felt sore all over. The Quidditch match! Harry sat up quickly and looked around.   
Madam Pomfrey came in and when she saw he was awake said, "Oh, your awake. Well, your be a little sore but you should be okay by morning so I suggest you get back to sleep.  
  
"Wormtail," Harry whispered very softly. "I must see Professor Dumbledore!" he almost shouted.  
  
"Shhh!" she said trying to force him down again. "You may see the Headmaster in the morning, but right now your my patient and you must stay here." Harry did feel very tired so he agreed reluctantly but couldn't sleep for at least half and hour. His mind was on the match. Wormtail had definitely written the messages and tried to knock him off his broom. There was no doubt. He still really wanted to talk to Dumbledore, but what good would it do right now? There was nothing that could be done until morning anyway. He drifted peacefully to sleep after that.  
  


* * *  


  
Harry awoke with a start the next morning by the door being thrown open and footsteps hurrying in. Madam Pomfrey was coming to see what all of the commotion was about.  
Ron ran in panting and holding something in his hand. "Harry! A...... letter from......." but he cut off seeing that Madam Pomfrey was looking at him disgusted. He handed it to him and Harry ripped it open quickly. He knew that it was from Sirius. He just hoped that it was good news.  
  
_Dear Harry,  
Your friend Hermione informed me of what happened at the match yesterday. This is very serious. Remember what I told you last year keep an eye out for anything unusual. We know that Voldemort is still out there and that he still wants you dead. But unfortunately that's not why I sent you this letter.  
  
My trial is getting closer everyday and I have nothing to back up that I'm innocent except for three 15 year olds and Dumbledore. I know what I need and I have a pretty good idea how to get it but I'm kind of stuck in Azkaban at the moment. So that's where the three of you come in. Make sure whenever your doing this to wear the Invisibility Cloak because it's very dangerous. I know that Voldemort's top five ranking supporters have their hide out right outside of the Forbidden Forest. That's all I know, though. I know nothing of their plan.  
  
Peter is no doubt there, and I know that he's been sneaking into Hogwarts at night. Since no one but us know that he's an Animagus then no one knows how they're doing it. Any day now another message will appear. When it does I'm trusting you three to figure out the pattern. Please send me an owl when you have it figured out.  
Sirius  
P.S. Don't mention anything to Dumbledore because your going to have to break a fair few school rules in order to get me out of here.  
Harry looked up at Ron who had been reading it over his shoulder. He looked very pale and frightened.  
_  
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked at once. Ron seemed lost for words.  
  
"She's...er...at...in...." he said.   
  
"The library?" Harry asked and Ron nodded. "C'mon. We gotta go get her," Harry said and he got out of bed. Of course Madam Pomfrey took that time to come back into the room where he and Ron were now standing.  
  
"What are you doing? Back into bed. The visit's over," she said trying to get Ron out of the door.  
  
"But this is urgent!" he said waving the letter. She looked at it and tried to get it. Harry snatched it away and put it behind his back so she couldn't see it, though.  
  
"Who's the letter from? If it's urgent I need to see why," she said starting to get very angry.  
  
"Please, look I'm fine," said Harry holding his arms out so that she could look at him. But when he saw her eyes drift toward the letter that was being held in his hand he put it behind his back again.  
  
"You will go to the Great Hall for lunch. But you're staying here the rest of the morning since there are no classes." They sighed but he would get out that afternoon. Harry nodded and started back for his bed. Ron started to leave but Harry heaved a fake cough and Ron got the picture.  
  
"Go to the library and warn Hermione," Harry hissed as soon as Madam Pomfrey headed for her office. Ron nodded and headed off for the library.  
  


* * *  


  
Two and a half hours later Harry finally convinced Madam Pomfrey that he was fine and very hungry. This was a lie but he needed to go to Professor Dumbledore's office right away. As he was headed for his office he stopped dead in his tracks. Sirius's voice floated into his head.  
  
"Don't tell Dumbledore....." Harry had to tell him about the Quidditch match but if he told him that something was bound to lead to Sirius, and Harry found it wasn't as easy to lie to Dumbledore as it was to the other teachers. Of course he had done it but there was some guilt. He decided that he would wait until it was absolutely necessary for Harry to see him and headed of to the Great Hall.  
  
He sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Ron and Hermione. Suddenly something hit him. "Ron, what happened at the match? Was it rescheduled?" Ron couldn't bring himself to look Harry in the eye.  
  
"Er...." he said uneasily. This was definitely not good.  
  
"What is it?!" Harry said very anxious now.  
  
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried. "They're canceling Quidditch this year. They say it's just too dangerous. It's not final but most of the teachers have agreed to it." Harry felt like he had just eaten his own lunch and everybody else's in Gryffindor. Ron looked down at his plate and pushed his sandwich around in circles.  
  
"They can't do that!" said Harry. A few people looked at him but most of them already knew what he was yelling about. "It's just not fair!"  
  
None of them said anything. It was a very gloomy lunch. Afterwards they decided to go down and see Hagrid. Hermione, after hearing how Harry had debated with himself about going to see Dumbledore, argued. "Harry, this is really important. You're life, once again, is in danger. Now, we know who wrote the messages and we know that Pettigrew got you off your broom! He needs to know."  
  
But after Harry told her about Sirius she agreed. They marched down the grass but when they knocked on Hagrid's huge front door nobody answered. They all looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
"Where could he be?" Ron asked. They all shrugged and were about to turn back to the castle when they heard a great booming voice.  
  
"There yeh are! I was wonderin' if yeh were goin' to come down." They turned and saw the huge Hagrid. He was half giant but was nothing like a giant at all. He was very kind and very fond of strange creatures. He had already had a huge spider while he was in school, a dragon in their first year, Buckbeak the hippogriff in their third year, and had a large amount of Blast Ended Skrewts last year. They were for classes, though. "Come in, come in, have some tea," he said and they followed him into his tall hut.  
While Hermione made some tea Hagrid said, "I heard wha' happened at the Quidditch match. Yeh shouldn't play, Harry. It's too dangerous. Remember wha' happened las' year when yeh weren't careful enough? Yeh almost got yerself killed!"  
  
"Hagrid, Dumbledore told me that I could, and had to, compete. My name came out of the Goblet of Fire so I had to be in the Tournament. It doesn't matter anyway because they might be canceling the Quidditch season anyway. Angelina said that she might go and talk to McGonagall but it's already a done deal. It's all my fault!" said Harry gloomily.  
  
"No, it's not......" Ron began but Harry cut in.  
  
"If I wasn't on the team then there would still be a season. Wood could have done something about this. He could always make McGonagall see his point. I'm not so sure if Angelina could do anything about it."  
  
"Harry," said Hermione, "Wood wouldn't have been able to do anything about this. It's way to serious, and besides Professor McGonagall doesn't have to power to make Professor Dumbledore change his mind." Everyone just sat stirring their tea until Ron broke the silence.  
  
"Hey! Remember the time when Wood tried to make McGonagall get Harry's broom back after Sirius sent it......." but he trailed off and his smile vanished. There was silence once again. It was a very tense silence.  
  
"Who sent Harry tha' broom?" said Hagrid his eyes very wide. Nobody spoke.  
  
"Oh," said Ron laughing uneasily, "what did I say? Harry's... er...." but he broke off. There was nothing they could do to cover this up. There was no one who might have sent Harry that broom. He remembered when he first got it who Ron had suggested. He just hoped that he wouldn't say that now. "Lupin!"  
Harry groaned silently. He looked at Hermione who was standing behind Hagrid with her face in her hands shaking her head. Ron gave Harry a sheepish look. But what had been said had been said. There was no hope that Hagrid was going to believe it, though.  
Just then there was a knock on the door and Dumbledore himself came inside the cabin. "Excuse me, Hagrid, but I need to speak with Harry, Ron, and Hermione." Hagrid didn't say anything. Dumbldore motioned for them to follow.  
  
"What happened?" he said calmly as they walked back up to the castle.  
  
"I.....er...." stammered Ron. Nobody wanted to tell him what just happened. "I accidentally told Hagrid that Sirius sent Harry the Firebolt," he blurted out. "But I was trying to make Harry feel better!" he added quickly. Dumbledore said nothing until they were outside his office door. He said the password quietly and they went down into his office.  
  
"He would have found out anyway. Right now I have more important things to tell you. I have been hearing many rumors about the whereabouts of Voldemort. He seems to be gaining power again, but I'm not sure how fast. I'm going to tell your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to start showing you some ways to block curses and defend yourselves.   
  
"Now, we know that his main target will be Harry, so once again we will have tight safety measures. I will ask Professor McGonagall to make sure Harry has an escort wherever he goes," said Professor Dumbledore.   
  
Harry groaned quietly. I was very annoying when people kept making excuses to walk him to classes which he had experienced a lot of in his lifetime.  
  
".....Mr. Weasley, I would like you to be with Harry at all times. I know you are anyway, so there should be no problem." Dumbledore's sparkling blue eyes had some sadness in them. Harry knew he was thinking about how his father and Sirius were inseparable at his age. Ron how ever nodded importantly, not noticing.  
  
"Miss Granger, I know from experience that Dark wizards like to get young intelligent ones." Harry knew exactly what this was leading to, but he didn't want to hear it. "I would like you to stay with Harry and Ron, as well. Just a safety measure. But, as I said, I do know that the Dark wizards like to pick out students that can use their talents for evil." Harry looked over to Hermione reluctantly who was very white and almost shaking. Since she couldn't talk she just nodded. "You may go," he said rather sadly.  
  
They all got up and left silently not speaking. When they entered the common room everyone looked up at them, only to look away very quickly again. Harry knew that McGonagall must have told them while they were in Dumbledore's office. He really didn't care. He just wanted to get on with the day so that it could be over. Voldemort was after Hermione, Ron let the slip on Sirius, Sirius was in Azkaban with no proof to keep him out.... He didn't think it could get any worse. He decided that after afternoon classes took place he was going to talk to McGonagall about the Quiddtich season.   
  
After yet another boring History of Magic with the only ghost teacher, Professor Binns and then a pretty good lesson of Charms with tiny Professor Flitwick, he had Transfiguration. After struggling greatly with turning his bunny slippers into a real rabbit he went up took McGonagall's desk and prayed that everything would go okay.  
  
"Yes, Potter? Is there something I can do for you?" she asked without looking up.  
  
"Yes, Professor. I wanted to talk to you about the Quidditch match. Has it been officially canceled yet?" Now she looked at him. It looked like she had some pity in her eyes. She really did want Gryffindor to win. She always did.  
  
"I'm sorry, Potter, but Dumbledore's mind is made up. I don't like it either but it's for the safety of you and the team."  
  
"But, don't you think he'd give us one more chance? Whoever tried to do something to me in the match wouldn't try to do it again now that we're on the look for them!" She was silent for a few seconds.  
  
"I will see what I can do. I can't make any guarantees, but I will try to show Dumbledore that it's safe. Just don't get your hopes up." And with that she left and Harry followed behind.  
  
"What did she say?!" asked Ron excitedly.  
  
"She's going to try." They walked silently back to the common room where Hermione was just getting back from the library.  
  
"How'd it go?" she asked behind the large pile of books. Harry who was too tired to explain went right into the common room and left Ron to do the explaining. Harry climbed into an armchair by the fire and before he knew it he was asleep.  
  
A/N: _Once again I'm very sorry that this took so long. I really didn't like this chapter at all but the next one is going to be better! I promise!!  
~*hermione*~_  
  
  



	9. The Wonderful News

Chapter 9  
The "Wonderful" News  
  
Harry was in a place he had never seen before. Wait, it was becoming clearer now.... Yes, he'd been here many times! He was looking at the front doors of Hogwarts. He heard shouts coming from behind near the Quidditch field and decided to see what the commotion was. As he approached he saw it was a Quidditch game. But, what was really strange about it was that it was Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. From what he could see he was not up there! He had to find his broom, and stop the match! They couldn't start without him. But then he heard the commentating. It didn't sound like Lee Jordan's voice, though.  
  
"Nice swerve there by Potter! Catches the Slytherin Chaser off guard. Gryffindor Chaser heading for the goal.. YES! MAKINTIRE BEATS THE KEEPER!! The score's 20 to 0, Gryffindor!"  
  
Okay, so he was up there. Or was it him? He looked up and saw, he guessed, the Seeker circling the field. It looked like him, but he looked older. Maybe sixth or seventh year. He moved over to the stands with his eyes on the game the whole time. He turned just to see he was about to knock into someone. He closed his eyes and prepared for the crash, but it never happened. He had gone right through the person! It looked like a teacher but he was not familiar. This was just too strange. Harry moved over to an empty seat on the bench.   
  
He watched the next twenty minutes of the game and finally came to the conclusion that nobody could see him, and that he wasn't even solid! People had jumped on him and walked right through him, and he hadn't felt a thing. Suddenly a hush fell over the stadium. Harry looked up and saw "himself" diving toward the Snitch and....  
  
"YES! JAMES POTTER HAS DONE IT! GRYFFINDOR BEATS RAVENCLAW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS! THE FINAL SCORE IS 220-70!!" Everyone around him was jumping up and down but he didn't join in. He just didn't get it. That was his father?! But before he had time to figure it out he was zooming of somewhere else. Nothing was clear. He saw little things happening but he was traveling so fast that it was hard to see. It was almost as he was traveling though... time. That was it! He had seen his father play Quidditch in his last year when he won the Quidditch Cup.  
  
The next thing he knew he was standing on solid ground in what appeared to be a church of some sort. Yes, he was at some sort of wedding. He didn't understand. First his father's Quidditch match then a wedding? They certainly didn't go together!  
  
"Do you, Lily Clark, take James Potter to be your...."  
  
_How could I be so stupid?_ he thought. Of course. It was his parent's wedding. He saw Sirius standing over next to his dad and Remus right behind him. Harry also saw.. Dumbledore! He laughed to himself. He went over to where Dumbledore was sitting and waved a hand in front of his face. When Dumbledore just smiled Harry laughed louder. Suddenly everything stopped. Everyone froze.  
  
"Harry!" someone scolded. "Don't do that! Just sit down and wait until this is over." He turned around and saw his mother and father staring at him. They were the only people moving. James was trying not to laugh. But then everything was back the way it had been and the ceremony ended.  
  
Harry watched the reception for a while. He saw Sirius put something in the punch and a few minutes later people were clucking like chickens or barking like dogs. Sirius, Remus, and James thought this was extremely funny. They laughed at everyone while Lily went around and set things right.   
  
When she returned she said, "Who did it?" They were all trying to hold back laughs.  
  
"Honestly it wasn't me, dear," said James. Lily just sighed.   
  
Once again Harry was going through time. This time he was in a hospital room. Immediately, almost as if it were instinct, he knew what this event was. He walked over to where his mother was cradling a baby in her arms while his father cooed.  
  
"He looks just like you James," from a voice from the side.  
  
"He does, Sirius, but look at Harry's eyes. They are identical to the green ones that Lily has." That had to be Professor Lupin.  
  
"Lily! Harry doesn't have a middle name, yet!" said his father. His mother looked down and smiled at baby Harry.  
  
"James."  
  
Again Harry was moving. He knew what was coming next and he didn't want to see it. He shut his eyes tight but the next thing he heard was his name being called.  
  
"Harry, we know you've been very miserable lately but you shouldn't be. You must put your concentration into your studies..." said his mother.  
  
"And Quidditch!" said his father. "Don't forget about that. You have to get Dumbledore to change his mind." Lily just rolled her eyes.   
"Someone's come to awaken you now. Remember, try and be happy the time that you have...." she was cut off.  
  
Harry jerked awake. "C'mon, Harry! We're gonna be late for dinner and I hear they have a big announcement to make," he heard Ron say. He felt himself stand up and follow him to the portrait hole but his mind was still in his dreams.  
  
They met Hermione in the Great Hall and sat down just as Dumbldore was getting up to talk about the big announcement Ron had told Harry about.  
  
"Everyone!" he said smiling as he waited for silence. "As some of you may have heard we are going to have a Winter Ball the third day after winter vacation starts. I know that a lot of you attended the Yule Ball last year, and we are going to celebrate one year by having another one for our school only. I trust that you all will get busy finding a partner. Also one other thing, Quidditch practices and matches will continue until further notice. You may continue your eating." Harry looked up at Professor McGonangall who smiled at him. He couldn't help but beam back.  
  
"Isn't that cool?" asked Ron with his mouth full of mashed potatoes.  
  
"Yeah! Maybe Gryffindor will win the Quidditch Cup again..." he started.  
  
"Yeah, that's cool, but I was talking about the Winter Ball!" Harry thought he saw Ron glance down the table at Lune who was talking with Lavender and Parvati. Harry knew what he was thinking.  
  
"Oh. Yeah, I guess." Actually Harry didn't want to go to the ball at all. It reminded him too much of when he got turned down by Cho last year. She went with Cedric, which made him mad at Cedric and.... He was making all of the terrible feelings he had last year come back. He had no intention asking Cho this year for not wanting to make a fool of himself again.  
  
After that there was no more talk of the ball. Katie announced that there would be Quidditch practice the following night that cheered him greatly. He was looking forward very much to flying his Firebolt again, which had been untouched in his room for days.  
  
When dinner was over and everyone made their way back to the common room Ron asked him very quietly, "Are you gonna ask her to the....."  
"No." That was all there was to be said. Ron just shrugged and they talked about Quidditch some more.  
  


* * *  


  
The next morning Harry got up and made his way to the Great Hall not even thinking about the news last night. When he left he saw Hermione talking to Lune, Lavender, and Parvati. She was rolling her eyes a lot, but there other three were giggling madly. When she saw him she waved and he stopped to wait for her.  
  
"What was that all about?" he asked as she pushed open the portrait hole and climbed through.  
  
"Nothing," she said and she didn't say anymore about it.   
  
When they got to the Great Hall they saw that Ron was not awake yet. But as they sat down, and unfamiliar owl came down and gave Hermione an issue of the Daily Prophet.  
  
"I thought you canceled that prescription," Harry said as he buttered some toast.   
  
"I decided to start getting it again and I'm goin to have it continued through the summer. I need some connection to the wizarding world!" He nodded and she looked down at the front page headlines. "Look at this!" she said rather loudly. She handed him the paper and he looked down at the headline.  
  
  


Death Eaters Found Outside Hogwarts!  


Yesterday two Death Eaters were found just outside the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. The rest of the forest was searched with the help of Rubes Hagrid, Hogwart's Gamekeeper, but nothing else was found. Does this have to do with the Dark Lord's revenge on Harry Potter. Is young Harry safe? Albus Dumbledore is not saying anything on the matter at this time. We will keep you posted on the happenings. Also the trial for Sirius Black is set for April 17th. Everyone is now wondering if Dumbledore will be in the committee.  
  
"We've got to find something fast to help Sirius. We don't know if the message writer is going to come back. Especially if he reads the Daily Prophet," said Hermione.  
  
"You're right but Sirius said to follow his directions and that's what I'm willing to do," Harry replied. He was surprised to hear that his voice was calm. Inside he was anything but. He was worried about the news of the Death Eaters being so close. There had been no sign of security tightening up very much after Dumbledore spoke with them. He still hated that people thought that Sirius wanted to kill him. He knew, along with Dumbledore and Hermione and Ron, that Sirius wouldn't ever hurt him! He was like the father he never had to him even though he rarely got to see him. He wanted, more than anything in the world, more than he wanted to win the Quidditch Cup, more than he wanted a date with Cho to the ball, for Sirius to be free. He sighed.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Fine, let's get to class." Harry said.  
  


  
* * *  


  
The next few weeks were very uneventful. They had Quidditch practices every day for two hours to make up for the lost time. They played Ravenclaw two weeks after the announcement. They won 220-80. They had their usual party but it made Harry feel bad because he knew he could never get a date with _her_. Finally it was the day before winter break and Christmas.   
  
Classes ended early that day which relived Harry and Ron. They both had gotten bad marks in Potions, had trouble with Transfiguration, and couldn't take much more of Divination. Unfortunately that was their last class before winter break officially started.  
  
"Today," said Professor Trelawney, "we shall be doing mind reading." Harry felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. Of course she would pick on him and read his mind. Of course his mind had been on nothing but Cho and she would find out. _Okay, just clear you mind_ he thought. He started to think about how he was happy that they won the Quidditch match...... against Cho's team. Ah! How hard could this be?  
  
"You my dear. How about I try it out on you," he hear a voice behind him say. He spun around. Before he could say anything she was chanting some sort of nonsense. He thought really hard on how stupid this seemed. "Oh, you are afraid of something...." she said he voice rising slightly.  
  
"No," Harry said more bluntly than he meant to. More than half of the class burst into laughter. Ron and Seamus and Dear were all holding on to the table, trying not to fall out of their seats.  
  
"Well!" said Professor Trelawney angrily. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way thanks to Mr. Potter!" With that she stormed back to the front of the room. Lavender and Parvati glared at him. He really didn't care, but there was something very strange. Instead of Lune glaring too she was... smirking it almost looked like. But as soon as she caught his eye she smiled.   
  
Throughout the rest of the period she made them copy extra notes and gave them no time to practice anything. Then she gave the a ton of extra homework since "you have all vacation to finish it," as she said  
  
As they made their way back to the common room they met up with Hermione. She was beaming which made Harry feel happy for her whatever it was but it made him feel even worse. But anyway school was officialy out for a week and he didn't have _that_ much homework. Probably only a few hours worth.  
  
Suddenly he realized he was so caught up in thought that he wasn't even paying attention to what Hermione was saying.  
  
"....Isn't that great?" she said looking from Harry to Ron. Since he had no idea what Hermione was talking about he looked to Ron for some help. It didn't work. He just stood there look dumbfounded. The kind of look that always comes before anger.   
  
"Harry?" she asked.   
  
"Er... what was that again?" he asked.  
  
"I'm going to the Winter Ball with Robert Dickstein. Isn't that great?" Silence. Ron looked at Harry once again with the same shocked look on his face.  
  
"Erm...Yeah! Great...." he said. He didn't really care who Hermione went with. Last year she had gone to the Yule Ball with a famous Quidditch Seeker so now a Gryffindor Keeper who was just a year older than them didn't really matter. Ron once again looked over at him but this time there was a fire starting to grow behind his eyes. _Oh, great, here comes the big one_ Harry thought as Ron looked back at Hermione. Her smile had now faded into a sort of half grin. Which faded right before Ron started yelling.  
  
"Are you crazy?! Do we have to go through this every time..." he started.  
  
"Listen, he's in Gryffindor, he's on the Quidditch team, he doesn't want to kill Harry, and he's only a year older than us. Case closed. There's nothing else you can argue about," she said and walked off.  
  
Ron tried to think of something to say but finally turned to Harry and said, "You, know, she's right. And I hate it!" he added. Harry laughed and they followed her off.  
  
  


* * *  


  
The next day Hermione informed Ron and Harry at lunch that Parvati and Lavender were going to the Ball with Dean and Seamus. Harry still had his eye on Cho but wasn't going to risk the embarrassement of being turned down again. Harry also knew that Ron probably wanted to ask Lune to the Ball. He had so badly wanted to go with Fleur last year and her cousin was almost as good. He had the same problem as Harry did, though. He too had been rejeceted rather rudely.  
  
As Hermione went to ask Professor Sprout something about the lesson Ron turned to Harry and said, "You know we better get dates. The Ball is only in two days and everyone is going to be taken before long."  
  
"I s'pose your right but I don't know who to ask. I don't think it would be terrible to go alone. It's not like a partner is required," he said. "Why don't you ask Lune? I bet she'll go with you." Harry thought he saw Ron turn slightly red.  
  
"Are you kidding?! After what her cousin did to me last year? No way! What about Cho? There's no harm in asking her."  
  
"Same problem your having. Besides she's popular and beautiful. I bet she got a date ages ago." They continued eating in miserable silence.  
  
While the three of them were walking back to the common room someone tapped Harry one the shoulder and Harry turned around looking into the gorgeous face of Cho Chang.   
  
"Could I talk to you for a second, Harry?" she asked.  
  
"Sure," he said his voice squeaking slightly. "I'll meet you guys in the common room," he said and Hermione and Ron nodded and headed back to the common room with Dean and Seamus.  
  
Cho led him over to the very side of the hallway to talk to him. "Harry, since last year was the Yule Ball and I went with Cedric (Harry thought that he heard her voice quiver slightly) I'm just not ready to go with somebody to another ball that I don't know that well. I was wondering if.... you would escort me to the ball. As, a friend. I know you were also friends with Cedric so it would mean a lot to me." So, it wasn't what he'd hoped but it was good enough for him.  
  
"Of course," was all he said. He thought he heard her whisper "Thank you" as she walked away quickly dabbing at her eyes. He did feel bad for Cho, and he felt some of the pain that he had felt last year when Cedric had died, but he was very happy he was going with her.  
  
It seemed as though he just floated along the corrider like Professor Binns would do. As he entered the common room Hermione and Ron jumped up and made him tell them what had happened.  
  
"That's great!" said Ron. "Two for two!"  
  
"What are you on about?" Harry asked.  
  
"I asked Lune to the Ball and she said yes! I'm going to the Ball with Fleur Delacour's cousin! She's way better than snooty old Fleur was anyway. All she did was complain. Lune's loads better! She's nice, and considerate, and...."  
  
"Well, we're really happy for you, Ron, but I'm really tired and I want to go to bed," said Hermione. "Goodnight." With that she dissapeared up the girl's staircase.  
Harry found that he was rather tired himself and led the way up their staircase. He didn't even bother to pull on his pajamas. He got into bed and just barely heard Ron whisper,   
"Goodnight," before he was fast asleep.  
  
What Harry didn't know was that someone, at the same time he was peacefully dreaming, was wide awake planning their next move very carefully. It was going to happen soon. Then the Dark Lord would rule again!  
  
A/N: _I know I promised an exciting chapter this time but I had to spread it out. I promise that the next chapter (which is already planned and getting underway) is going to be very exciting! Please review. I love it when people tell me what they think.  
~*hermione*~ harrys_brainy_bud@hotmail.com IM-HermioneRowling  
P.S. I'm sorry for the errors, if there are any, but I dind't have much time to re-read it.  
  
  
_


	10. The Winter Ball

Chapter 10  
The Winter Ball  
  
Harry was so happy he didn't even mind doing all of the extra Divination homework. He was going to the Winter Ball with the girl he'd had a crush on since third year! The girl who had gone with Cedric Diggory last year! One of the prettiest and most popular girls in the whole school! Everything was just perfect in his life....  
  
Or so he thought. Little did he know that the Death Eaters who had set up their camp outside the Forbidden Forest were having a meeting.  
  
"The plan will go perfectly. He will be delivered by third day. The student is perfectly capable of keeps the disguise and hiding out inside the walls of the castle," said a voice.  
  
"I still think that I should be there to unsure it!" said another.  
  
"How will you do that? You're supposed to be dead! If someone caught you...." the first voice trailed off.  
  
"How could they? I can make my self as small as a mouse remember?" the voice laughed but the other one was still firm.  
  
"It doesn't matter what you want. The Dark Lord's orders must be fulfilled and we must stick to the plan. It has no visible flaw. Nothing has gone wrong yet, and it won't. We have a circle meeting with the Dark Lord and the new Death Eater in one hour. The ceremonies will be performed and we will tell of the plan. It will not fail." With that, both people Apparated away.  
  


* * *  


  
The next morning was the official day before the ball. All Ron could talk about was Lune and the ball. Harry couldn't talk at all. He was starting to have worries about the ball and it wasn't all some dream anymore. He didn't want to mess anything up in front of Cho, or say or do the wrong thing. Hermione on the other hand really had nothing to say about it. She wasn't worried nor ecstatic. She just thought of it as an event that was happening tomorrow. It wasn't as exciting as a Quidditch game or the Triwizard Tournament had been. It was just something that was happening.   
  
The three of them spent the day roaming around the grounds that were starting to become cold, visiting Hagrid, playing some chess (in which Ron won every time), studying, and just sitting around the fire talking. They talked about Quidditch some, they talked about Snape, and they talked about where they wanted to be when they graduated from Hogwarts.  
  
"I think I'd like to be an Auror like my dad. It seems really fun but a lot of work," said Harry.  
  
"Yeah, I'll probably get into the Ministry, too. Or I could help out Fred and George with their joke shop. If they ever have one," said Ron and they were all quiet for a little while just staring at the crackling, orange, fire.  
  
"I want to be a teacher," said Hermione finally.  
  
"I didn't see that one coming," said Ron sarcastically and Hermoine threw a pillow at him.  
They continued this discussion until about 11:30, and decided they should go to bed.  
As Harry changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed he thought about what might happen in his life. Of course he wanted to live just the way his father did. He knew that it would help him cope with having to grow up without him. As he was thinking these thoughts he drifted off to sleep.  
  


* * *  


  
The next morning all anybody could think or talk about was the big event coming up. Harry talked once more to Cho about the ball in the morning. She made it perfectly clear that she wanted to go with a friend and not get involved in any kind of romance.  
This made Harry a little sad but he was glad that Cho thought of him as a good friend.   
That day most of the people stayed inside, for there was no snow on the ground to have a snowball fight and it was too cold to go for a comfortable walk. Harry and Ron did in fact try to ride broomsticks but they came back to the common room not even ten minutes later totally frozen.  
  
Around five o'clock most of the girls started slipping away to their dormitories to get dressed and do their hair when in fact the boys wouldn't start to get ready until six. Hermione stayed with them for a little while to keep them company but at five-fifteen insisted that she wouldn't have enough time to get ready.  
  
"What do those girls do up there?" Ron asked. "It takes them and hour and a half to get ready?"  
  
"I have no idea," Harry admitted. "They think that they have to look like some Dutch Princess or something at every single ball. Why do they care so much now? We see them in their normal robes every day."  
  
Ron shrugged. Harry didn't really care anyway. He was secretly glad that all of the girls made such a big deal out of it, because it made everything seem so proper and it all fit very well.  
  
They let themselves do some last minutes thawing before going upstairs to get changed. Harry changed into his green ones while Ron changed into his new brown ones. They looked much better than the maroon ones with the lace he had to wear last year.  
  
As they made their way to the Great Hall with Hermione and Rob, Harry kept a look out for Cho. He knew that she would look radiant. And all of a sudden there she was. It almost looked as though a sun beam was shining down on her like she was an angel straight from heaven itself. She wore a pale yellow gown with her hair twisted up. Also little strands of hair that hung down that were curled. Her hair was decorated with little sparkling clips. Harry just stood there staring until Ron stepped on his foot then went off to join Lune.  
  
Cho finally spotted him and smiled. She came over and said, "Hello." All Harry could do was nod though he wasn't absolutely sure his muscles were working. After Ron, Hermione, and Robert were gone she also whispered very softly in his ear, "Thank you again."  
  
They went inside and found their seats with everyone else. Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati joined them later. "Everyone!" said Professor Dumbledore and everyone became quiet. "It especially nice to see you all here. We know that most of you enjoyed the Yule Ball last year so here we are once again. Of course there aren't as many people. But anyway, enjoy yourselves!" Everyone resumed talking again after that.   
Everything was going wonderfully. Harry and Cho talked about the new teams and how everything was coming together for the Quidditch match.  
  
"We've got most of the people from last year but we have some new backups that are training with us. One of them is a third year and one a fourth. They're doing okay. I think we have a chance to beat Slytherin. What about you? How's your team coming along? I know you guys have a new Keeper and Captain."  
  
"Well, Katie's doing a really good job of keeping us in shape. We've got a big match against Slytherin next week, so we're working extra hard. Everyone is still a little skeptical of Rob but I think it's because most of us actually miss Wood. But he's doing a really good job and everything. I really hope we can get ourselves to the finals. Maybe we'll play your team." They laughed together and talked for a few more minutes.  
Meanwhile there was someone watching the whole thing outside. One of the people was one of the people who was having the discussion with the other the night before. The other man was none other than Lucius Malfoy himself. Or was it?  
  
They were both looking for someone inside. "Of course Glamazal has to hide in the middle of all these rotten kids!" said the first man.  
  
"Why do we have to use the name Glamazal? Why can't we just say....."  
  
"Shut up! We're not supposed to say it because someone might be listening and it could blow the whole plan I worked so hard for!"  
  
"I still think we should have sent Draco in to do the job. He will do anything with a little help from the Imperius...."  
  
"Lucius! Will you close you abnormally large mouth? You are going to get me in huge trouble! If anyone is out here listening...."  
  
"Oh, Shelbiss! You worry too much. You're just afraid your 'master plan' is going to get you killed. I don't think it's going to work. It's just so stupid and point..."  
At that moment Shelbiss slammed Lucius into the Womping Willow then turned back to the window. "Don't ever talk to me that way again," he said threw clenched teeth mostly to himself, as Lucius got beat up badly by the out of control tree. He laughed to himself as he spotted Glamazal dancing with some kid.  
  


* * *  


  
"I'm 'aving a wonderful evening, Ron," said Lune as they sat down after a dance with Harry and Cho.  
  
"So am I," he said smiling. He had been having the best evening of his life. He didn't want it to end. But just as he was thinking this he heard the large clock in the hall strike midnight and.....  
  
Suddenly everything went black until huge fire flames shot up in each corner of the room. Many people screamed. Harry couldn't see anything or anyone. He felt like he was being sucked into a black hole. He tried to look around and find Ron as his eyes were adjusting to the light. He saw something red out in front of him, grabbed it, and pulled with all his might. He felt the person or thing fall to the floor with a yelp and pull him up.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Ron?"  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Something was pulling me down. C'mon we have to get out of here. I think there's been an attack on the school, and we know what they're after." Harry knew that Ron was probably scared out of his mind, like him, but he thought he saw him nod and follow him toward the teacher's table.   
  
Flashes of light appeared every so often as students and teachers tried to get some light in the place to see what was going on but nothing worked. Some people's wands were actually going up in smoke.  
  
Someone very powerful must have done this Harry thought. Finally he and Ron found Professor Dumbledore. "Harry! Thank God you're still safe."  
  
"I almost wasn't. Whoever did this is obviously after me..."  
  
"Of course, of course. We will get you, Ron, and ... wait! Where's Hermione? It's very important that we find her. You do remember what I said?" They nodded and split up to find Hermione.  
  
But just as they started to leave Harry thought of something. What if the already got her? No. They wouldn't. They were going to find her and they were going to get out of this mess.  
  
"Harry! Harry!" As her turned around he saw Hermione running toward him. She was very pale and looked as scared as she had ever been in her life. "I...." but he cut her off.  
"I understand. There's no time. We have to go right now. It's very dangerous." They found Ron easily but it took another five minutes to find Professor Dumbledore who got some lights to come back on. When they could finally see everything and everybody they saw that all of the small tables had been pushed against the wall and a huge red message had been put on the floor.  
  


**HARRY POTTER, YOU HAVE NO CHANCE. YOU CAN'T RUN OR HIDE FROM US. THE NEW SPY WILL DELIVER YOU TO US WITHOUT FAIL. YOU WILL NOT BE HERE FOR THE END OF THE YEAR. I WILL SEE TO IT!!! **  


  
Everyone put as much space as they could between the message and themselves. A seventh year stepped forward and scooped up some of the red stuff the message was written with. He examined it and announced that it was blood.  
  
Professor Dumbledore came over and whispered to Harry and Hermione that it was time to go. There could be another attack coming right after the first one. They moved to the door but when they got there they found that it was magically locked and could not be opened. Dumbledore tried everything he could think of on the door, but finally came to the conclusion that it was locked by some sort of dark magic.  
  
Lightning flashed on the ceiling over head. And it started to rain. But they soon found out that it wasn't the ceiling anymore. Someone had removed the whole top of the room, and it was pouring into it.  
  
"They're going to try and drown us," said Hermione. "We have to do something!" She rushed over to the window but found it too was locked. She looked around for something.  
  
"What are you looking for?" Harry asked.  
  
"Something big. Do you think whoever did this shatter-proofed the windows?" He really had to hand it to Hermoine. She could keep her mind clear even in times of great disaster. She found a vase and threw it at one of the windows as hard as she could.  
As she thought it would, the glass shattered. What she didn't know was that Shelbiss was right outside that window.  
  
He gasped. They were coming through the window! Why didn't he think of that? He hurried to get Lucius. He tried to think of how they could escape without getting caught. They couldn't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds. It only became safe after you were on the other side of the Forbidden Forest. Then it became clear what he would have to do.  
"Accio broomstick," he said and a school broom came flying toward him. Lucius did the same, and they took off over the woods.  
  
"There's no one out here. It's okay!" Hermione told Professor Dumbledore, who nodded.  
  
"Prefects!" he shouted above all the noise. "Break the rest of these windows and help the students get out."   
  
Little by little all of the sopping wet people were outside. When the front door was checked, it was found that it was not locked. Everyone was led back to their common rooms.  
  
Harry looked for Ron but he was no one where to be seen. He figured he would see him back in the common room, so he took off with Hermione.  
  
They were both extremely wet and tired. When they went into the common room with all the other Gryffindors, Ron was still not there. Harry was a little worried that something had happened to him, but he didn't worry that much. He probably got out after he and Hermione did. Harry went upstairs, changed out of his wet clothes and into his dry ones, and hung the wet ones to dry. He was just too tired to stay up for Ron and he fell asleep.   
  


* * *  


  
"Fools!" came the voice of Glamazal. "I set up everything perfectly for you but still you find some way to screw it up! I had everything go off right at the stroke of twelve, so this is not my problem. I am not the one who will be punished. It will be you," she spat at Shelbiss.  
  
"I felt him coming into the circle! He was almost there but then some force got him out. The circle is the one who weakened. Not me. My plan will still work if you just follow it the way I tell you."  
  
"Fine! But don't think that the Dark Lord will be happy that we have to move on to Plan B. He won't."  
  
With that both of them Apparated into the Circle. They had no idea what fate lay for them there. Would it be good? Or would they be punished severely? No one knew.  
**_  
A/N: Okay, first of all I'm sorry for anything that I might have screwed up. It might be in the context, it might be spellings, it might be punctuation, but I'm sorry. I'm really behind on this story so usually I don't have time to reread it. Just don't bring it up in the reviews. I know it's not perfect but I have to get it out as fast as I can. Also, if you have a question about the story leave your e-mail! When people ask things and don't leave their e-mail it frustrates me because I want to answer you!! One more thing, I'm sorry the beginning of this chapter totally sucked! I was kinda having an off day but that didn't stop me, so this isn't one of my best chapters. Once again please review or e-mail me! Thank you for reading I really appreciate it so much!  
_**~*hermione*~ harrys_brainy_bdu@hotmail.com IM-HermioneGranger or Charmed1410 :) :)  
  
  



	11. Ron?

_A/N: Okay, if you're reading this, you're either one of my fanfic friends who feels bad for me and is reading this, you're reading this whole thing at once for the first time, or you're out of your mind and have decided to come back after about 6 months to read my new chapter. I hopefully will start to write on a regular basis starting in the summer. It'll be much easier. Oh, and this chapter kind of, well, sucks. It seriously does so please don't flame me I hate it too. Thank you so much for reading my junk.  
~*hermione*~ harrys_brainy_bud@hotmail.com_  
  
Chapter 11  
Ron?  
  
Ron shook himself awake and stared up. Everything was all blurry. Where was he? Then he started to see black cloaks and masked faces.  
  
"Hello young Weasley. Thank you for joining us," Glamazal hissed evily.  
  
Ron gasped. "You..."  
  
"Imperio!"  
  
"Go back to Hogwarts, Weasley. And tell of the good news. You will put Potter right into my hands." Ron stood up and started walking back toward the castle followed by the Glamazal's evil laughter.  
  


* * *  


  
Harry awoke the next morning by the soft sound of snow on the roof above and the window. He pulled away his hangings and looked out. It was so beautiful. Like a freshly painted portrait with the colors brown and white. He sighed and jumped out of bed happily.  
  
He looked over at Ron's bed which was empty but had been slept in so Harry just assumed Ron had been there. He dressed joyfully because he knew he wouldn't have to go to classes for another three days. It was nice to be able to just go and eat whenever you want, or just sit by the fire all morning doing nothing.  
  
He went down the staircase to find Hermione by the fire reading a book that looked like it had at least 800 pages.  
  
"Hey," said Harry as he approached her. "Have you eaten breakfast already?"  
  
"Mm hmm," was all she said. She just kept on reading her book.  
  
"Okay, thanks a lot," said Harry as he headed for the portrait.  
  
"Oh, if you see Ron tell him that a letter came for him."  
  
"From who?" asked Harry turning around.  
  
Hermione paused. "Actually I don't know! It didn't say who it was from on the front of the letter and I didn't open it of course," she said.  
  
"Okay, I'll tell him." As Harry headed to the Great Hall he wondered who would send Ron a letter without saying it was from. Any of his brothers would have. So would his mother or father. They were the only people Harry could think of who would send Ron a letter. He didn't worry about it though because he was too hungry. He hadn't eaten much the night before because of all the trouble.   
  
He went in and sat down next to Ron at the Gryffindor table. "A letter came for you. It's upstairs."  
  
"From who?" he asked buttering his toast.  
  
"I don't know," said Harry. "It didn't say who it was from on it. I haven't even seen it, Hermione just told me to tell you that you got a letter."  
  
"Okay, thanks."  
  
"Hey, by the way, last night when everyone was going out the windows where were you?" Harry asked.  
  
"Oh, I didn't go out I stayed in to help Dumbledore with the 1st and 2nd years," said Ron without looking at Harry.  
  
"Okay," said Harry a little uneasily. He knew that there still was something very wrong with Ron but at this moment he wasn't going to push it. Maybe he was just tired from being up so late last night. "So, what do you want to do today?" asked Harry trying to change the subject.  
  
"I've got some stuff to do. You don't mind do you?" Ron asked.  
  
"Er, no. Of course not. Do whatever you need to do. I hope you don't mind me asking but what is the stuff you need to do?" asked Harry curiously. He didn't know what it could be that didn't include him.   
  
"Well, I do mind." With that, Ron got up and walked out of the Great Hall.  
  


* * *  


  
"Harry, we don't know exactly what happened to him after we all got out last night but I think that we should trust him. He is one of our best friends after all," said Hermione who was still reading her book.  
  
"I want to trust him but something is telling me that there is something wrong with his story. I don't know what though." Harry sighed. He had always trusted everything Ron had said. Besides, if Ron was lying he would be able to tell because Ron was a horrible lier. Especially to Harry. It just didn't feel right. He would just have to follow him when he went he went to "do some stuff". That was the only way.   
  
But he wouldn't tell Hermione because he knew that she would object and say that he was invading Ron's privacy. Then she would keep a close eye on him to make sure that he wouldn't sneak out. He knew that routine oh so well already. He sighed and kept on studying for his potions.  
  


* * *  


  
Harry waited a few mintues after Ron left the common room to follow him. He knew he could catch up in time with the Invisibility Cloak, which he was sitting on. He stood up and grabbed it quickly. Hermione looked at him curiously but said nothing. He went to the portrait hole and pushed it open, threw the cloak over him, and took off at a fast walk. He walked for about a minute and finally saw Ron going out of the main doors. He followed him trying to keep as quiet as possible.   
  
Ron walked out and over to the shed where the school's brooms were held. He grabed one of the old Comets and started off over the woods. Harry hadn't thought to bring his broom. He pulled out his wand.  
  
"Accio Firebolt!" he whispered. Very soon his Firebolt came zooming toward him. But he didn't know how he was going to fly with his Invisibility Cloak off. If anyone saw a broom flying through the air with no person on it they would surely be amazed. He just had to be very careful not to be seen.   
  
He took of his cloak and placed it beside a near by tree. He kicked off, and was soon soaring over the woods not too far behind Ron. He just had to be sure he wasn't seen. They road for what seemed like almost 20 minutes. Finally, Ron began to slow down and dive down toward a big opening. Harry knew that he should come down in the edge of the woods so he wouldn't be seen.  
  
He landed as quietly as possible and sat down to watch. He wished he had brought his Invisibility Cloak with him. Ron walked over to a small, thin figure that was covered in a black cloak. "Nice work, Weasley," the voice said to Ron. "We shall soon have Potter at this spot thanks to our young friend here," the person said addressing all of the others that were standing behind watching. They, too, were dressed in black cloaks.   
Harry could not believe his ears. Ron, his best friend in the world, had betrayed him?! Something was not right. But it fit with where he was last night. He conjured some kind of spell to make the red letters appear and then he had to go here, to their meeting place after his planned failed. No! No! Harry said to himself. This is wrong. Something is very very very wrong here. There has to be some sort of explanation! He finally realized that he was moving to much and was making some noise. He sat quietly again trying to hear what the person in the middle was saying.  
  
"The Dark Lord will be here in three weeks! We must have Potter ready for him when he arrives. If we can get him here right before he comes it will be perfect but if we can get him here earlier it will be okay. You all know the plan." With that they all started to Apparate and Ron was getting back on his broom. The cloaked figure just stood there.   
Now he couldn't get away because the person would see him! What was he going to do?! But he didn't have to ponder long for the person soon Apparated.   
  
What to do first. Well, of course he had to go back to the castle without Ron seeing him, but then did he tell Hermione? Go to Dumbledore? Probably both. But if he told Quidditch would be re-cancelled. He certainly didn't want that. They had a game coming up three days after they got back from vacation. He mounted his Firebolt and took off back towards the castle.  
  
_A/N: I told you it sucked. (Sorry for any mistakes I might have made, spelling or in context. I haven't done this for a while! ~*hermione*~)_  
  
  
  



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